Construkt has a dizzying medley of colour in the lounge and dining area, and a lot of the furniture is recycled or upcycled.
Construkt has a dizzying medley of colour in the lounge and dining area, and a lot of the furniture is recycled or upcycled.

BENGALURU (Diya TV) — Located in one of India’s largest startup hubs, the newly minted hostel Construkt sits in a three-story building painted in cheery orange and white.

Inside, you might find folks sprawled out on a couch that suspiciously resembles a bathtub.

“We pulled that out of one of the bathrooms and remodeled it,” said Shashikiran Rao, Construckt’s co-founder and head of business development. “It is a bit of a take-off from the Archimedes story: we wanted a spot where people could jump up and say Eureka.”

Why douse the building in orange and white?

“Because these are the Construkt colors,” Rao said, adding that the hostel is an extension of its core philosophy: to forge connections and celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship.

“Construkt has been in the start-up community space for the last four years now. We started off with a festival which is recognized as one of the largest festivals and have been experimenting with counter-culture experiences,” Rao added. He opened the space in 2012 with the help of Karan Bahadur.

The idea for Construkt was affirmed after a visit to Berlin last year.

“Although I knew no one there when I arrived, I made a lot of friends when I reached out to the entrepreneurial community. It helped me see the place so differently,” Rao said.

When Rao returned from the trip, he learned that start-up workers and entrepreneurs required up to 18,000 room nights per year. Work began on the 3,500-square-foot space, and after spending Rs. 22 lakh, the space opened its doors to the public earlier this month. It not only offers an affordable boarding facility for those traveling through, but allows those who stay to interact with the city often referred to as India’s Silicon Valley.

“Backpackers come together and travel together,” Rao said. “We took that inspiration and matched it with the hacker community and called ourselves the hackpackers.”

“The entrepreneurial community is a very creative one, and we wanted this place to reflect that,” he added.