Inside a terracotta facade in Bengaluru

AD Studio 9 centres terracotta, craft and light at Kara’s new veneer store

28 Aug 2026

In Bengaluru’s Rampura, Kara Home Decor’s 6,000 sq ft veneer showroom begins with a rain tree. Standing on the pavement outside the west-facing building, the large-canopied rain tree was slated for removal before construction began. AD Studio 9 instead retained it, making it the first layer of the building’s climatic strategy. Designed by Apoorva Lekha and Gandharv Krishna, the decision was particularly consequential on a narrow site enclosed by party walls on either side, where the facade became the building’s primary connection to the street.

When the glass facade was ruled out, the architects turned to the Indian jali as both precedent and environmental device. A floor-to-ceiling screen of handcrafted terracotta lattice units wraps the frontage, filtering the western sun while maintaining permeability across the interior–exterior threshold. The tree, planted buffer and jali temper heat and glare before they reach the interior. A tapered concrete arch cuts through this continuous screen, creating a weighty counterpoint to the terracotta and giving the entrance a distinctly carved quality.

“The most challenging aspect was the skylight. With neighbouring buildings pressing in on both sides and no possibility of side windows, the only available source of natural light was directly above”

- Apoorva Lekha and Gandharv Krishna

Before you enter

The spatial sequence begins with a double-height reception framed by three successive arches, drawing the eye into the showroom. A custom reception desk in contrasting dyed veneers sits against a hand-painted tropical mural finished in hand-polished veneer, while concentric Rosso marble inlays on the floor establish a subtle radial geometry beneath it. Beyond, the long display hall is organised around a problem created by the site.

“The most challenging aspect was the skylight. With neighbouring buildings pressing in on both sides and no possibility of side windows, the only available source of natural light was directly above,” the architects note. The solution is a large oval skylight set within a terracotta-toned circular ceiling coffer. Rather than allowing a direct shaft of harsh daylight, the detail diffuses the light across the hall, giving the central volume a more even illumination.

Beneath it, a sunken planter of tall sculptural trees occupies the centre of the plan, serving as both a visual anchor and a wayfinding element. Display systems are pushed to the perimeter for uninterrupted sightlines, keeping the hall unencumbered despite its narrow footprint. At the far end, a backlit terracotta jali wall echoes the street facade, creating a controlled visual return to the building’s exterior language.

The product is the architecture

The restrained material palette allows Kara’s surfaces to remain the focus while making the showroom itself a catalogue of material applications. Charcoal stone flooring and dark grey polished veneer establish a deeper register against the warmth of the terracotta, while blackened oak shelving encloses the acrylic and laminate sample library in a deliberately darker environment. Here, controlled lighting makes differences in reflectivity, translucency and finish easier to read. Oak veneer with maroon detailing carries the colour of the Rosso marble through the furniture, while exposed dovetail joints, contrasting timber combinations and marble leg details give the custom pieces their own material vocabulary.

Every piece of furniture was designed and fabricated in India, including the sculptural reception desk and tailored consultation pieces. The result is a showroom where material is not applied after the architecture is resolved; it determines how the architecture performs. Terracotta manages heat and light, marble establishes movement, veneer defines surfaces, and timber reveals construction. Kara consequently operates as both a showroom and a full-scale material demonstration in which the products are tested through the building itself.