Design and experience: How Essensai 067 crafts an open-air lifestyle and community destination

Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 1,030 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

Does every large retail destination in a rapidly growing city have to be like a multi-storeyed air-conditioned mall? Essensai 067 in Whitefield does not believe so, and has found a unique positioning as an open-air lifestyle and community destination.

As shown in this photo essay, it combines dining, entertainment, shopping, wellness, and culture in a green and spacious setting Visitors can enjoy landscaped spaces and relaxed outdoor experiences rather than spending their time inside a boxed mall.

The space is also pet-friendly, unlike many other retail destinations and dining areas. The artworks and design encourage people to slow down and enjoy quality time, with a notable focus on sustainability, culture and community engagement.

Natural landscaping, solar energy, and climate-sensitive design send out subtle messages about environmental protection as well. The amphitheatre and open gathering spaces are host to live music, cultural performances, exhibitions, flea markets, and other community events.

Event programming has included garba nights, Christmas carnivals, qawaali, open-air movie nights, and pop-up markets. There was even a Kidzeprenuer Flea Market, where children aged 6–14 ran their own stalls over two days.

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“The enthusiastic community response reinforces our belief that programming can give a neighbourhood destination a life beyond shopping and dining. Success is not just about how many people show up on a particular evening, but in how they begin to see the space as part of their own neighbourhood routine,” Haresh Mirpuri. MD of Sai Lakshmi Industries and Creative Director of Essensai 067, tells YourStory.

Interestingly, the name of the space is derived from a combination of the words essence, Sai Lakshmi Industries, Sai Baba, and the 067 postal code of the Whitefield neighbourhood.

“Whitefield has grown rapidly in terms of homes and offices. We felt there was an opportunity to create a different kind of neighbourhood experience: somewhere you could go for a morning walk, sit with a coffee, take a class, discover something being made, meet friends without making elaborate plans, or simply spend time outdoors,” Mirpuri observes.

That was the starting point for Essensai 067. “We wanted to bring nature, art, community and craft into the same conversation as local and international food, retail, wellness, and entertainment. These are not separate attractions assembled under one roof; they are different parts of how people want to live,” he adds.

As trends in retail and lifestyle, he points to the growing expectation for engaging experiences, variations in weekday and weekend activities, and active citizen participation. “People increasingly want to do something, learn something, meet the person behind a product, or become part of an experience,” Mirpuri describes.

“We designed the district to feel thoughtfully put together – offering commercial vitality, but also with a clear point of view. Curation matters as much as the individual offering,” he affirms.

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A space is defined not just by its architecture or layout. “Its character develops through the people who visit, the brands and makers who become part of it, the experiences that take root, and the habits that form over time,” he adds.

“Any future location would need its own local understanding, programming and identity. The thinking should travel; the experience itself must belong to the neighbourhood,” Mirpuri explains, while referring to next steps.

In sum, Essensai 067 is aiming to build a destination that feels as dynamic and engaging as the city itself, while retaining the ease, openness and sense of familiarity of a neighbourhood space.

Mirpuri also offers tips for aspiring entrepreneurs in retail, food and entertainment. “Before deciding what a space should contain, understand who lives around it, how they spend their time, what they travel elsewhere for, and what is missing from their everyday lives,” he says.

“Build frequency before fame. It is easy to focus on a launch, a large event or a moment of visibility. The harder and more valuable task is giving people reasons to return,” he adds.

Curation can be more impactful than scale. “Not every destination needs the largest assortment or the most brands. It needs a clear point of view about what belongs there and why,” Mirpuri explains.

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“Finally, allow the people you work with to retain their identity. Independent brands, artists, makers, and experience partners bring their own communities and points of view. The role of the destination is to host, curate and enable them—not flatten everything into a single house style,” he says.

In experience-led businesses, the physical space is only the beginning. “What matters is the relationship that develops between the place, its partners and the people who return to it. That relationship is built through consistency, listening and a willingness to keep evolving,” Mirpuri signs off.

Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?

(All photographs taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at Essensai 067.)