The document discusses two colonial bungalows in Bangalore that should be listed as heritage properties due to their historical and architectural significance. The south bungalow has been converted into an office space through adaptive reuse, preserving the structure's integrity. However, the north bungalow remains abandoned and deteriorating. Both bungalows are rare surviving examples of colonial-era residential architecture in the area and represent an important part of Bangalore's history that could be forgotten without conservation efforts, such as adaptively reusing the north bungalow.

1. The Show Must Go On
By Ameeshi Goenka
Introduction
In this paper, the main subject of discussion is two colonial bungalows in Bangalore which should be
listed as heritage properties. Heritage is the value we place in objects and ideas that have been passed
down for generations.i
I will describe in depth the significance behind their conservation. The bungalows
will be viewed from a historical perspective; their current situations will be examined, and how they pass
the selection criteria for heritage sites. I will also discuss the application of the principle of adaptive reuse,
i.e. the renovation and reuse of pre-existing structures for new purposes.ii
In the case of the south
bungalow, it has been converted from an abandoned property into an office space, while retaining the
integrity of the structure and its heritage.
Body
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) lists three key criteria for the listing of a heritage
building as:
 Historical Significance- The importance of a property to the history, architecture, or culture of a
community, region or nation
 Historical Integrity- The authenticity of a property's historical identity
 Historical Context- The information about historic trends and properties grouped by themes in the
history of a community, region or nation.iii
In examining adaptive reuse, two articles have been referred to, one is written by Jay Haymond,
‘Adaptive Reuse of Old Buildings for Archives’ and the other by Gillian Darley, ‘Conservation in the
Inner City: Old buildings, New Jobs?’. In the article written by Haymond, he describes the entire scenario
of the Utah State Historical Society's moving its archive facility to the renovated Rio Grande depot. The
depot was selected to be the site for all official activities of the USHS because of its historical presence,
location within the state capital city, and its potential for flexible reuse. The renovation cost for the depot
was subsidized by the Federal Government. The renovation was performed in a manner such that, it
retained the original fabric of the structure, thus preserving its integrity.iv
The article by Darley covers the
case of the Nottingham Lace Market, which was the first industrial area in the United Kingdom to be
nominated as a Town Scheme, and is recognized as an Outstanding Conservation Area, due to which, the
site was eligible to use the inner city money, thus having access to considerable sources of grant aid and
matching finances. The city council has attempted to attract small businesses, to utilize the purpose built
Victorian flatted factories. Its status as an architecturally, and historically, significant district has opened
up avenues of finance, lifting an historical blight which has been compounded by recessions, and war
damage. The warehouses remain used the way they were intended to be, but in one case, the conversion to
flats is planned. The Midland Gallery, which includes six workshops, is an example of another form of
reuse.v

2. The bungalows in question, built during the Colonial period, are located on Museum Road, opposite the
Museum Inn hotel in Bangalore city. The Colonial Period in Bangalore, India extended from 1791 to1947
when the Bangalore Cantonment was merged with the rest of Bangalore City.vi
The bungalows lie
opposite each other, north and south respectively. The south bungalow has implemented the technique of
adaptive reuse, and is, today, a fully functioning office. The north bungalow has been locked down, and
left abandoned, for several years. The bungalows that look like two individual structures are actually four
individual houses. Two houses share the same interior wall and structure of a bungalow, and both the
bungalows along with the cottage in the far west share the same physical boundary.
The bungalows have no records indicating the original owners of the property. It can be speculated that
the designs are of a single architect, built for a single family. They are Victorian period erections (1837-
1901), as suggested by the gable roof, and finial ornamentation, with Tudor influences. The symmetrical
architecture and fort-like parapets suggest the Tudor influence. In conversation with Sushmita Sen, an
employee at Anand and Associates, I gathered that both bungalows are owned by Mr. V. V. Pravindra and
family, and were looked after by a caretaker. Around one and a half years ago, Mr. Pravindra occupied
the south bungalow, belonging to his brother, to set up an Interior Design and Architecture firm namely,
Anand and Associates – Architecture Interior Design and Environmental Consultancy. When he acquired
control, the site was in the same state as the abandoned bungalow. After three months of renovation, the
bungalow was converted into an office space in 2014.
Mr. V. V. Pravindra’s decision of using his brother’s abandoned property as a fully functioning office
space is a living example of adaptive reuse. In the conversation with Sushmita Sen, it was said that
Mr. V. V. Pravindra introduced a door in the common wall shared by the two houses, thus increasing his
office area. Additionally he has retained the flooring, and wooden staircase and most of the woodwork,
doors, windows, awnings, have been restored. Door frames, fan, and light fixtures have been added.
Today, the bungalow is a spacious, well lit, airy office space. Living and dining areas have been
converted into reception areas on the ground floor; Living areas on the first floor are now work stations,
the master bedroom is now a conference room and smaller rooms are now used as an accounts room, and
senior architect’s room. The landscaping outside the south bungalow was also completely redone.
The south bungalow is important aesthetically, because the work done to it in terms of adaptive reuse has
been carried out in a very sensitive manner. The conservation methods employed for this bungalow has
hardly touched any of its fabric i.e., it was such that it retained most of the original materials used for
construction. Its authenticity has been retained, thus, its integrity cannot be questioned. Similar work has
been done by the Utah State Historical Society on the Rio Grand depot. The renovation of the north
bungalow was self-funded by Mr. V. V. Pravindra which turned out quite expensive, he personally hired
specialists to carry out the tasks, whereas the renovation cost for the depot was taken care of by the
government which was the same case in the Nottingham Lace Market.vii
Since the south bungalow has
been adapted and reused as an office space today, it has opened up job opportunities for the people
working there and others to work in a private firm. The same principle is followed by the city council of
Nottingham wherein the area was adapted into present day context to allow for space availability to
encourage the growth of small scale industries and office spaces.viii
Having examined a few cases, one can
suggest that the abandoned north bungalow also has great potential to adopt adaptive reuse. The north
bungalow and the cottage behind are in desperate need of preservation as they will soon lose their identity
and cultural and aesthetic values with every passing generation. Based on a street scape analysis of

3. Museum Road, which must have had many more old colonial buildings, no longer exist. One can say that
the bungalows in question are important pieces of local heritage and need to be conserved as they are the
only remaining pieces of residential architecture built by the British in the one kilometer radius of this
building. Many newer developments have taken over and today, these bungalows are surrounded by
restaurants, hotels, modern buildings, construction sites and heavy traffic. The Victorian Stone buildings
are prime examples of architecture of their period, in the middle of the city; one bungalow is full of
activities adapted to present day while the other is left neglected by its owners and the pedestrians.
Conclusion
The bungalows represent a part of Bangalore Cantonment's history. They are excellent examples of Tudor
influences on Victorian Architecture, having survived for approximately 175 years. The technique of
adaptive reuse has been applied to the south bungalow by Mr. V. V. Pravindra, who has preserved the
building's skeletal structure, maintaining its historical integrity. It has now been sensitively renovated, to
fit in the present day context, and houses an Interior Design and Architecture firm. The north bungalow,
however, remains in a state of disrepair, with its integrity degrading by the day. Both of these houses are
significant, as they are among the few surviving architectural pieces of Bangalore's Colonial era. This
significance is forgotten by the citizens of the city, and thus, the bungalows are losing their historical
identity. Based on the above discussions and case studies, in order to revive the identity of the area, it is
vital that the north bungalow be conserved, and the tool of adaptive reuse be employed so that it fits in to
the current context. This conservation would aid the preservation of Bangalore's colonial history for the
coming generations.
i
Oxford Dictionaries. August 26, 2015. Definition of the term “heritage” from:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/heritage, Accessed August 20. 2015.
ii
Merriam Webster. August 25, 2015. Definition of the term “Adaptive Reuse” from:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adaptive%20reuse.
iii
Bhawan, Nirman. July 2013. Handbook of Conservation of Heritage Buildings. Central Public Works Department.
http://cpwd.gov.in/Publication/ConservationHertBuildings.pdf
iv
Haymond, Jay. 1982. “Adaptive Reuse of Old Buildings for Archives.” “The American Archivist.” 45 No.3:11-18.
Accessed August 20. 2015.
v
Darley, Gillian. 1978. “ Conservation in the Inner City: Old Buildings, New Jobs?” “Built Environment.” 4
No.3:213-221. Accessed August 24. 2015.
vi
Wikipedia. August 18, 2015. “Bangalore Cantonment.” Last modified July 17, 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_Cantonment, Accessed August 20. 2015.
vii
Haymond, Jay. 1982.Accessed August 20. 2015
viii
Darley, Gillian. 1978. Accessed August 24. 2015.

4. Figure 1: Present day location of the bungalows.
Figure 2: The South Bungalow that has adapted to its present day context.

5. Figure 3: The private property that is left abandoned. The North Bungalow.
Figure 4: The cottage behind the bungalows.

6. Figure 5: The physical structure of the bungalow that's been adapted and reused to present day scenario.
Figure 6: Support for the fans and lights added.

7. Figure 7: Retained flooring and wooden staircase (polished and treated).
Figure 8: The back view of the Unused North Bungalow.

8. Figure 9: The developments on the street in front of the Bungalows.
Figure 10: The street leading to the site.