Namma Ramakrishna

Located in Tiruvannamalai – a small town situated at the foothills of the Annamalai Hills, where Lord Shiva appeared as a column of fire, bringing light back into the world in the form of a lingam – is a restaurant called Namma Ramakrishna. Having named the restaurant after the Deity of the land, the conceptualization of the project stemmed from ideas that evolved around the historical temple.

Location:  Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Client:  Mrs. & Mr. Ramakrishna
Site area: 2000 SQFT
Design Team:  Ekta Agarwal & Vinay Patwa
Year of Completion:  March 2020

Abstracting various features and elements of this temple and transforming them into modern motifs help in bringing this restaurant together. Being a narrow site, the walls inside are treated with class-based white brick to mimic the openness one finds in a temple while mirroring its rough texture. On the other hand, the ceilings, wall paneling, and partition walls are adorned with a repetitive flower pattern (provided with back-lighting). This not only symbolizes the flowers found in the temple but also enhances the space within, maintaining a balance between the subtle and the bold.

The ambient lighting present inside along with the task lights over each table produces a calming effect while the finishes and colors of the loose furniture complement the finishes present in the rest of the restaurant. Namma Ramakrishna aims to give its users an experience that is dramatic, yet artful.