The project unfolds on the first floor of Carma, Mehrauli — a 1,500 - sqft retail space that weaves together two distinct yet complementary design identities: Apala by Sumit, celebrated for its handcrafted, evocative jewellery, and Monika Nidhee, a couture label that reinterprets Indian tradition through modern silhouettes and intricate detailing.
Ornate Colonnades for Facade
From conception, the vision was clear - to design a cohesive experience, without the conventional zoning, which would typically split the store into separate halves. The longitudinal nature of the site, however, presented a challenge. The design response was to create spurts of activity and displays, letting go of hard boundaries — using ornate colonnades for order and the drapes of fabric for movement, guiding the flow towards and through defined areas.
This approach encouraged overlap rather than separation, allowing visitors to experience both brands in a single continuum. Just as the spatial organization dissolves rigid boundaries, the material palette extends this idea by grounding the store in its context.
" Just as the spatial organization dissolves rigid boundaries, the material palette extends this idea by grounding the store in its context."
Bespoke Totems Made Using Fly Ash
Drawing inspiration from the Mehrauli region, the textures of the pedestals echo the ancient stone ruins in and around the Qutub complex. The facade extends this dialogue with the site, featuring bespoke totems (made using locally sourced fly ash) set into a curved screen at the entrance. Their sculptural rhythm resonates with and embodies a synthesis of both the ornate nature of jewelry and the repetition and flow of fabrics.
More than just a store, this space becomes a shared canvas for two brands to express their individual identities while enhancing one another. It is a contemporary setting shaped by heritage, where fashion and craft are not displayed in isolation, but in meaningful conversation.
" This approach encouraged overlap rather than separation, allowing visitors to experience both brands in a single continuum."
Sagar Goyal & Aanchal Sawhney | Principal Architect, Portal92, Delhi-NCR
Portal92 is a young and experimental Interdisciplinary Architecture and Design Studio based out of Delhi-NCR. The firm provides spatial solutions for various design requirements and typologies. The founding partners graduated together from Sushant College of Art and Architecture. After working individually with different firms, ranging from furniture and small residential projects all the way up to urban scale developments, Sagar and Aanchal decided to come together and start their own design practice in early 2018. Being close friends since over a decade, they found that their ideologies, design approach and field experience would be an interesting experimental direction as a studio practice.
PROJECT DETAILS
Architecture Firm: PORTAL92
Project Location: Carma, Mehrauli, New Delhi
Category: Retail
Team: Aanchal Sawhney, Sagar Goyal, Shreya Parinam, Devina Khanna, Akshita Thakur
Site Area: 1500 sqft.
Year of Completion: 2025
Text: Vanshika Chadha, Sagar Goyal, Aanchal Sawhney
Graphics: Annette Reuben
Photographs: Niveditaa Gupta