JOIN USCreativity hub’s canteen wins sustainability award
The dining space of Bengaluru-based social enterprise Bangalore Creative Circus (BCC), better known as The Circus Canteen, has received an award for its sustainable design.
BCC was a steel factory -turned- warehouse until early 2021, after which it went through a transformative journey. Today, it is an active and vibrant space with events, activities, and dining. Founded by Ajay Raghavan, Manisha Vinod and Alok Agarwal, BCC’s restaurant has been awarded ‘Sustainable interior of the year’ title from Dezeen Awards, instituted by UK-based Dezeen Magazine.
The space was designed by Multitude of Sins, a design studio, which applied for the award. Smita Thomas, the studio’s founder, explains that Ajay wanted a space that was “fully sustainable and unique”.
“So we decided to ask people to give us things they were not using. We got broken remotes, dish antennas, and rusty gas cylinders. Every element used at the cafe was acquired through a city-wide waste drive across weeks,” she says.
Visualised and executed in 10 months, the design language at the canteen is “a menagerie of oddities”, Smita adds. “From the materials we got, we sifted through things that could be used, documented each piece and tried to bring it all together.”
Leather trimmings, fringes, discarded rubber tyres, manhole covers, safety pins, pipe sections, and metal tacks “were brought together to create a monochrome mosaic”. The wall art installation is embedded with a collection of e-waste, sanitary fixtures, discarded furniture, and other bits that have been pieced together. The kitchen service window is framed by cassette tape box covers, and the waiter’s station below boasts of a deep teal patina, she details.
What one cannot miss here is the mammoth bohemian-style community table with a reclaimed pine wood top painted in white, with chairs, each unique in their make. The place also boasts of other seating design stories including one inspired from social distancing, adds Smita.
“The flooring is a mishmash of discarded samples from ceramic and tile stores, and active sites of fellow designers in the city,” she explains. “The design process was very different from any other project we have done before,” says Smita. “We started building one piece at a time. It is easier to work with new material. Fixing used materials takes a lot of time. Ensuring quality and making sure each element would last was challenging,” she adds.
The BCC world
The venue, which opened to the public in October 2021, has within it a climate museum, demonstrations of climate resilient food growing systems — including hydroponics, aquaponics, permaculture, mushroom and microgreen systems, an event space that can host over 500 people, a co-working space, an art gallery and studio, a jam room, waste management demo systems, a stage, a store for art and sustainable products, and a climate library.
Talking about other sustainability practices, Ajay says, “We work with city schools and colleges to create experiential learning on sustainable practices. We also work with a number of impact organisations and non-profits in the city,” says Ajay.
Everything here rotates around the 3R’s — reduce, reuse and recycle. “A seahorse installation hung at the entrance area is symbolic of ‘there is no such thing as waste’. About 90% of the material that went into the construction of our entrance area and the restaurant came from recycled, reused and refurbished objects,” Ajay adds.
The venue goes the extra mile to make sure their events are environment-friendly — they send a confirmation email with directions and a screenshot of a map from the Metro station which is less than 1 km away. “We request people to bring their own water bottles and shopping bags. We also request our customers to not print material or bring extra decorations for their events at our space, and most of them have adhered to our requests,” lists Ajay.