Bangalore has various architectural styles manifested in both private and public buildings, more so in the latter. Even the lesser known Tudor style of English architecture has a presence here, represented by the Bangalore Palace built in 1887 of the past, and E-inn, a hotel in Electronic City, which became functional only this year.

The Tudor style in English architecture is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period (1485–1603), and even beyond. Although superseded by the English Renaissance in domestic building, the Tudor style still retained its hold on English taste.

Tudor architecture became popular during the 15th and 16th centuries, when the Tudor family came to the throne. Henry VIII was the most famous Tudor king. One can see many Tudor houses in England today. Some of them are over 500 years old. They are known for their ‘black-and-white’ effect. ‘Tudor style’ is an awkward style-designation, with its implied suggestions of continuity through the period of the Tudor dynasty and the misleading impression that there was a style break at the accession of Stuart James I in 1603. 

Tudor style buildings have six distinctive features - decorative half-timbering, steeply pitched roof, prominent cross gables, tall, narrow windows, small window panes and large chimneys, often topped with decorative chimney pots.

Bangalore Palace
The Tudor style of architecture inspired the Maharaja of Mysore, who in 1887 built the Bangalore Palace similar to the Windsor Castle, which is in Tudor style. It is said that the construction cost of this palace was just over Rs 1 lakh. The land cost Rs 10 lakh. Chamaraja Wodeyar, during a visit to England, was inspired by the Windsor Castle in London, and built this palace on similar lines.

Spread over an area of about 430 acres, the palace is famous for its elegantly carved woodwork. An exquisite door panel at the entrance leads to grand settings inside.

The interiors have breathtaking floral motifs, cornices, mouldings and relief paintings on the ceiling. The structure has fortified towers complete with Gothic windows, battlements and turrets.

Tudor style hotel
The E-inn located on Kirloskar Road in Bommasandra industrial area (Electronic City), has a distinct architectural style that is close to the Tudor style.

Explaining the architectural concept of E-inn, Asha Nidhi, the architect, says the idea was to come up with a different form of architecture as compared to the steel and glass look of contemporary hotels worldwide. Hence an inn was ideally the other end of the spectrum a warm and cozy —place against a cold steely one.

The distinctive feature of the building is the grey sloping roof and the timbering on the exterior of the windows and the walls to emphasise predominance of wood as was used in European architecture, more so in the Tudor style.

Conventional contemporary building materials have been used such as soft wood timbering, natural stone for cladding, wooden flooring, leather upholstery and wood cladded interiors, to replicate the wood and stone composite construction of the Tudor style.

The styling has been continued from the exteriors up to the interiors of most of the public areas. After this the rooms have been designed to suit the modern day conveniences with emphasis on fresh air and light.

The scaling in terms of sizing of timbering, the shingle roofing on the top, the slate cladding , the rustic tiled flooring, etc, have all contributed immensely to bringing this extremely close to the original Tudor look.

In sync
The architectural style is in sync with the surrounding. Besides, Bangalore has been exposed to various styles of architecture, ranging from the Windsor Castle replicated in the Bangalore Palace, to the marvellous Vidhana Soudha with the serene bungalows of different Indian and European styles, which have greatly contributed to the charm of Bangalore.

E-inn and its restaurants are vegetarian and non-smoking zones, and it was a logical step to have environment friendly interiors, such as no carpeting in the rooms, windows that can be opened for fresh air, and direct ventilation in toilets.

If you look around the City, you will find some private bungalows built in the Tudor style, especially the turrets (small towers). One could construe that they have been inspired by the Bangalore Palace which has stood from over a hundred years.