The Pallet: A Fusion of Sustainability and Contemporary Design

Restaurant and Micro Brewery by Ketan Jawdekar

When the client approached Ketan Jawdekar with a vision for a cosmopolitan restaurant in Bangalore, the designer saw an opportunity to create a unique experience. The city, known as the Silicon Valley of India, also happens to be a hub for wooden pallet manufacturing. This inspired Jawdekar to recycle these pallets into a design that would appeal to the world cuisine palate.

The Pallet stands out in the realm of hospitality design, where interiors need to stay fresh and appealing. The restaurant's unique feature is the use of approximately 5130 wooden pallets for the interior decor. This design philosophy of repeating a module to generate patterns and textures gives the restaurant an international look, attracting even expats from the city. Despite the raw state of the materials, the design remains sophisticated and contemporary.

The restaurant, located on the ground level of a commercial complex, spans 1250 square meters with a clear ceiling height of 4.2 meters. The recycled wooden pallets act as a wrapping element to the raw structure, with the grey tone of raw concrete finish on walls and floor complementing the raw wood on vertical planes and ceiling. The true ceiling is painted black, giving a sense of infinity, with the services wrapped around by wooden pallets.

An aisle of pallets on both sides acts as a reception lobby. The restaurant features an open kitchen, a private dining room, a buffet counter, a 40-foot long bar, and an elevated stage in front of the brewery. The design manages to break the linear feel of the space without compromising on the quality of space. Repetition of modules was key to achieving this effect.

The project, which started in September 2017 and finished in December 2017, was not without its challenges. Recycling used wooden pallets required sorting for finish and quality. Designs were evolved from a single pallet module, with wastage calculated and reused in designs to achieve zero wastage. The weight of pallets to be suspended from the ceiling also needed to be calculated from a structural point of view.

The Pallet's innovative design did not go unnoticed. It was awarded Platinum in A' Hospitality, Recreation, Travel and Tourism Design Award in 2018. This prestigious award recognizes world-class, exceptional, and highly innovative designs that contribute to societal wellbeing. The Pallet, with its blend of raw materials and contemporary straight lines, truly defines the aesthetics of an era and makes the world a better place.