Where Old World Charm Meets Futuristic Vision

Located within the iconic Oberoi Gurgaon, Ziya is a modern Indian restaurant where old-world elegance meets striking new-age character. Designed to complement and elevate the modern Indian cuisine it serves, the restaurant crafts an atmosphere that is captivating and memorable.

Overlooking the property’s serene water body, Ziya’s high ceilings and expansive glass walls bring the sleek architectural language of the Oberoi Gurgaon into the dining space. Natural light floods the interiors, illuminating a design that embraces a polyphonic layering of expressions, where each element plays a distinct yet harmonious role.

From the outset, the entrance sets the tone with a portal to the unexpected—an installation of fire-fused glass against aged timber. Commanding attention upon moving into the space is a custom-crafted 36-foot liquid metal table, its reflective surface and lithe form evocative of molten fluidity despite the material’s inherent rigidity. This sculptural centrepiece and communal table, with pod-like light fixtures emerging from its surface, anchors the layout while creating a luminous, dynamic focal point. The table acts as a spatial pause, ensuring all seating areas around it are equally inviting.

Fact File

Location

Gurugram

Typology

Hospitality

Built Up Area

2000 sq. ft

Status

July 2024

Client

The Oberoi Group (East India Hotels)

Photographer

Jeetin Sharma

To one side of the central table, arched blue dining pods offer intimate enclaves for diners. The blue arched pods, with radiating lines of metal foil, curve gracefully around custom-designed tables that explore the theme of memory. “The table top is inspired by the aroma of caramelised sugar that we would encounter as children, from a candy floss maker on his bicycle,” says Akshat Bhatt. With a glass top resembling the rich hues of caramel and a base modelled after the elegant turned timber Channapatna toys—shaped like a chess piece and painted blue—the tables cast beautifully diffused reflections of the overhead lights, adding warmth and intrigue to each pod.

Continuing the rhythm, other pods house a bar rendered in metallic leaf work and a discreet server’s station. A private dining room offers a secluded retreat, while smaller tables along the glazed facade invite more open dining with views of the larger property.

The design of the ceiling enhances this layered design narrative, its sinuous grooves mirroring the fluid profile of the central table and exaggerating perspective to draw the eye further into the space. Contrasting colour palettes and varying ceiling levels introduce depth while seamlessly integrated services maintain functionality without disrupting the visual rhythm. This interplay of fluid steel, molten glass, and undulating forms redefines materiality, creating a space that captivates and surprises.

Generating an atmosphere of old-world conviviality, hand-formed glass sconces and custom chandeliers cast a warm glow, while artworks of antique furniture provide a subtle nod to regal elegance. Solid walnut parquet floors, monolithic chairs, and a rich, moody palette ground the space in timeless charm, housing the progressive design elements within a relaxed, nostalgic ambience.

Ziya at the Oberoi blends elegance with striking design to craft a dining experience that will be remembered. This cosmopolitan space merges past and future, offering a fusion of unexpected yet familiar elements. Here, exaggerated proportions and distinctive forms come together to create an ambience that celebrates the joy of food, memory, conversation, and communal dining.