An adaptive re-use project to turn a trio of blocks on an unusually shaped plot into a boutique art hotel/guest house is a very rare opportunity in Karachi. When presented with this, Moyena Ahmad not only viewed this as a project of architecture, but a stage to convey her message of the great need for sustainable practices to a larger audience, i.e. the elite guests who the hotel was developed for – the larger chunk of all architects’ clientele. 

The original building was built as a multi family residence in the 1980s and had some striking features such as circular doorways, windows and grills that had continuity of pattern, and sweeping curved staircases. Moyenas spatial solutions prioritized minimal demolition and her aesthetic prioritised re-purposing as much material retrieved from demolition as possible. This being an important part of her practice, she views what is usually called debris, as material to be used in design. All doors were retained even in the case of relocating them, the staircases freshened up with experiments with colour and the marble floors continue to live in their old home. The most striking feature of the hotel are the facades which tell tales of the windows and grills that were part of the history of the building in hues of blue. Not only that, the independent blocks of the hotel are connected using the minimal but unlikely intervention of bridges on the upper level. What functions as a service corridor is brought straight to the front stage rather than hiding in the wings and becomes an interesting part of the internal courtyard narrative.

As is a quality of Moyenas work, there are no left-over spaces. All interstitial spaces, nooks and crannies are now display areas for sculptures or intimate seating areas carpeted with pebbles and draped with foliage. Upcycling palette wood, incorporating local rattan craft and bamboo blinds in the interiors subtracts from the kind of carbon footprint the construction of a boutique art hotel /guesthouse of this scale would generate. The water from the air-conditioning is also harnessed for the gardening needs of the hotel. 

However a major aspect of this hotel is the art, which makes it transcend architecture. Moyena had the task of developing an architecture, which became a haven for the art it houses, without losing its own identity. She brings lots of natural light into the spaces and expands the shell to showcase the art.  The canvas is not blank or dull yet provides the physical and intellectual space for the artists and interior designers to practice their craft.

Through the combination of her raw aesthetic, her sharp focus on sustainable practices and an intellectually welcoming approach toward fellow designers and artists, Moyena successfully choreographs a cohesive coming together of an art gallery and hotel functionality, vibrantly without any chaos. This not only elevates the experience of the hotel’s guests, but it also contributes to the well-being of the environment and accommodates self-expression, setting the stage to create a possibility of discourse/dialogue between the three.