THE OUTHOUSE CAFE

WHAT

WHERE

STATUS

The site is located within the Aida Hotel premises, on the backwaters of Kottayam city. The client invited us to redevelop a 2,500 sq. ft area of the former run-down café into a gastro-pub. Apart from the expansion & refurbishment of the café, the brief also prescribed the inclusion of a casual outdoor + indoor dining with a bar, a private dining area and an open kitchen. We made an extensive study of the way the existing space functioned, the additional spaces available and how the proposed expansion programme would sit inefficiently.

The existing walls were rendered new by stripping them of layers of old paint and cement plaster. The exposed brick masonry was then enhanced by replastering the grooves. The uneven sill heights of smaller openings were unified by a common sill level, which was then cladded with black granite to protect the structure from Kerala’s heavy monsoons. A combination of brick arches was strategically positioned to support the existing roof. The crucial conceptual strategy used was the courtyard as a binding element for the new programme rather than just as an extension to the restaurant. A pavilion-like structure with wooden rafters was inserted as a bar into the courtyard to distinguish, and yet link two zones: the indoor and the outdoor. The courtyard terminates at one end, giving a peek of the show kitchen. The central tree helps create a micro-environment during summers by cooling the space around the courtyard. The design accommodates 80 people in a sitting.