A vintage cool adventure recounted by NYUCT Design Labs.
Core members of NYUCT Design Labs imagined, designed and brought to life what we fondly called “Vintage Cool”. This was a prototype experience architecture and design project. The idea was to make heritage cool and accessible to newer, younger customers and adapt to the millennial era.
Strategically, to transform a perceived weakness – its age – into its most potent asset, some of these experiences were industry firsts and continue to be so.
A brand like Vivanta, with its work + play idiom, design forward ethics and a promise of being always on, was seemingly contrarian to the Taj Connemara. This was a 200 year heritage property with sepia tinted pages. Heritage hence needed to be reimagined without losing the sense of history. Vintage had to wear coolers.
Like with our earlier adventures, the experience architecture and design had to be carefully mapped and delivered on ground before the communication phase happened. This is a property where one of our core members in an earlier stint had worked on several heritage initiatives. Nearly 15 years later, it was deja vu.
While a few ambitious experiences remained on the schematics & drawing board, probably for another time, let's look at what finally was brought alive, to make vintage cool.
The Madras Chronicles Interactive Installation.
Our team which included artists, designers, techies and experience designers, created a living map installation that narrated the 200 year old story in an interactive format. With laser etched maps, artfully recreated miniatures of classic Madras landmarks, LCD screens that rolled images of Madras to Chennai dating right back to the landing of the East India Co. And culminating in a reading corner that held the Madras Chronicles book for guests to pore through the hotel’s vaunted history. A space that earlier held sepia photos came alive with content.
What's in a name? History
The Taj Connemara was originally a house bought by John Binny from The Nawab of Arcot in 1799. The property was later acquired by T. Somasundara Mudalyar and built as the Imperial Hotel in 1854 under the proprietorship of Triplicane Rathinavelu Mudaliar, renamed Albany in 1886 when it was leased to two other Mudaliar brothers, and re-established as The Connemara in 1890, named after the then Madras Governor during 1881–1886, Robert Bourke, baron of Connemara.
Connemara, the name traces itself Ireland. In north-west County Galway and Mayo, a rural area along the coastline in the extreme west of Ireland.
Oscar Wilde had written of its "savage beauty" and as a magnificent destination. The destination to this day remains steadfastly old fashioned and unchanged.
The pre work and research
This adventure made us chase down a photographer over several trips, from whom we licensed rare vintage photo assets (a story for another time), that was critical to narrate this visual story of a city's transition, seen through the eyes of Connemara.
The history chronicles were repurposed and designed painstakingly.
The address preserves the architectural influences of Classic Colonial, Art Deco and distinctive elements from architect Geoffrey Bawa's "Tropical Modernism" style. The Art Deco façade and interiors are the hotel's original features, including wooden carvings sourced from the 16th and 17th century temples of Mahabalipuram.
The stone pillars in the hotel's Raintree pathway and the wooden carvings in the grand staircase wall, both of which date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, are from old temples of Mahabalipuram.[3]
Trivia
The lobby has a grand piano that dates back to 1922, which used to be played in the ballroom in the evenings during the post-war era, and is still played on weekdays.
The Nagavelli well, located in the hotel, never dries up even during the peak of summer when all other wells in the city dry up.
The Lady Connemara Bar & Lounge is the city's first licensed bar.
The Bachelors Block, which once accommodated army officers, is currently called colonial rooms. Spacious and airy, they now have private balconies.
Conceiving, designing and producing the "Great House on Choultry Plain” bed side chronicle
Placed in each room as a reading memento and a constant reminder to each guest that they were sleeping in a hotel that dated back 200 years, had seen two world wars, had a part of itself renovated by the legendary Geoffrey Bawa, had passed several reputed hands and now stood like a veritable time machine to momentous chapters in the city’s annals. This was a contemporary extension and retelling of the work of noted historian Mr. Muthiah (A tradition of Madras) and noted columnist Geeta Doctor (The House on Choultry Plain)
Recreating and branding a 106 year old Anglo Indian Menu. Restoring it to the original house.
This was prototyped at a sister property in Bangalore.
We worked with the sister hotel’s ace Chef and an erstwhile cracker of a colleague General Manager in Whitefield to recreate a 106 years old Anglo Indian menu. Sourced with gratitude from the Blake Family, one of the earliest settlers in Whitefield.
This menu was transported and launched for Connemara at the Madras week celebrations. An extensive Anglo Indian menu found another home. This adventure is a chapter in its own right. For another time.
Conceiving and christening the "Colonial Hangover" cocktails
With the help of our good friends in Diageo and the enterprising hotel team, we led the design and creation of a series of cocktails that expert mixologists rustled up to evoke the days of the Raj and Madras’s erstwhile history.
The Vintage arrival wall
Rare photographs, restored and carefully curated, confabulated with the chronicles, the right shade of wall papers, skilful artists and appointed handlers. Bringing the heritage story to the front door.
Curated heritage tours
An elaborate heritage city tour was curated and put together, complete with options of renting a vintage car.
Relaunch of the iconic Raintree.
Our members worked on the relaunch of the iconic Raintree restaurant, duly contemporarised and staying true to Aachi’s (grandma in Chettiar households) house cuisine.
We led the campaigns, supervised photography and food styling, design of the menu cards, and envisioned the custom series of signature cocktails infused with traditional chettiar spices.
The Jasmine Martini, Elaneer Mojito, Gold Rush and Art Beet stood tall amongst the menu.
Chota & Bada Haazri
The team was also involved in the development of the Chota Haazri and Bada Haazri dining experiences for the classic colonial Old World Rooms by the pool side. An experience that literally transported guests to that lazy languid era with a menu and service design that oozed nostalgia.