STUDIO GRONDA just completed a new signature complex for PVR Cinemas, India’s largest film distributor. The flagship movie theatre in New Delhi’s affluent Chanakyapuri neighbourhood.

India’s respect for the cinematic arts and the growing affluence of the urban middle classes is reflected in PVR Chanakya; a multi screen movie theatre situated on top of a high end retail complex in New Delhi.

With its grand opening, it symbolizes a new turning point in the concept of experiential design, combining movie entertainment, world-class F&B services and attention with immersive technologies and streamlined luxurious design

PVR Chankya – The project challenges

This three-movie-screen boutique movietheater was crafted on the top of the most luxurious mall in Delhi. The limited footprint plan conditioned our public areas to three simple corridors. By means of clever perceptual strategies we were able to create rich and spacious spaces in between the three auditoriums.

L shaped wood-panels and floor-to-ceiling mirrors create a laberinthic experience thus conveying a spacious space when in fact is (in most of the cases) only two meters wide. The lack internal access pushed us to develop a strong architectural portal on the side of the building.

This architectural intervention allowed the Theater complex to have a clean, emblematic and powerful sense of arrival. Concessions and automated services are highlighted by means of alabaster frames providing a singular way finding in an otherwise, extremelly compressed space. We are proud of creating a sense of place and public gathering spaces were it did not existed in the original space.