JW Marriott

Conceived for an existing hotel structure in Chandigarh, the project begins not with a blank site, but with the challenge of reinterpretation. The proposal treats this condition as an opportunity to recast the building’s identity through a precise series of spatial and architectural interventions, allowing the property to feel more resolved, more memorable, and more aligned with the expectations of an international luxury hotel.

The central design move is the introduction of a continuous vertical louvred skin, conceived as a brise-soleil wrap of stone or concrete jaalis. This new envelope does more than alter the façade. It gives the building a shifting visual presence as one moves past the adjoining roundabout, lending the hotel a changing perception in motion and a stronger urban silhouette. The layered skin also introduces shade, depth, and a more measured relationship between inside and outside, turning the façade into both an environmental device and an instrument of identity.

Internally, the reorganisation is equally deliberate. A continuous double-height space strengthens the public realm at ground level, while all-day dining is extended with spill-out areas and the bar is reimagined as a projected clear box. At the courtyard level, the swimming pool, spa, and gym are brought together to create a more coherent leisure precinct, while select corner rooms are converted into suites to improve privacy and avoid cross views.

The design sharpens the hotel’s identity by treating façade, arrival, leisure, and guest accommodation as parts of a single architectural narrative, allowing the property to feel more composed, more atmospheric, and more attuned to the expectations of contemporary luxury hospitality.