This home for a family of three is designed by Shruti Jalan and Neesha Alwani of ns*a architecture and interiors. “The family was clear they wanted a cosy home with large, airy spaces,” Jalan says. The client also wanted to do away with clutter—both physical and visual, and emphasise more on clean, neat and minimally treated spaces. “This was an exercise in renovation design. The previous, existing layout had too much space given to the utility areas and far too less to the living. The windows were small too. So, we agreed to combine programs and open up spaces to the outside,” Jalan says. The resulting design encourages conversation and quiet time between the family and doubles up as a formal entertainment zone when required.

Entrance

The home opens up with an element of surprise—an enclosed pathway with ribbed wood paneling on one side and mirrored glass with bronze strips, on the other, leads one to a glass door showing glimpses of what is beyond. A console unit bearing resemblance to a locker is kept here. This is the puja space; an unexpected element behind a solid bronze shuttered facade. “The lady of the house wanted a puja unit, however given the location, we decided to design an atypical unit instead,” says Jalan.

Living Room

Visually separated by a console unit, the living is a long rectangular space that has a variety of furniture arrangements. On one side is the main sofa in deep blue chenille complemented by two lounge chairs in salmon pink chenille fabric. A large artwork in shades of grey and pale blues mounted behind the sofa offers a dramatic backdrop to the setting. A Flos lamp, delicately draped in white sheer, offers ambient lighting. The centre table is a set of two grey marble topped tables with slender brass legs.

The other end has a grey tinted L-sofa, complemented by a mustard lounge chair. A neat wooden side table is positioned in between the L-unit. A solid low console in black, reminiscent of a stone block, is located at the bottom of the veneer paneling, housing the music system and other equipment. Floor-to-ceiling windows on either sides, allow natural light to flood the space making it airy and bright. A black and white custom designed bar cabinet sits in between both seating layouts. “This is our favourite space in the house. All elements are neatly woven together and they open out to the wonderful views of the city,” the designers say.

Dining Room

The entrance pathway opens into the dining, through the mirrored glass doorway. The ribbed paneling in wood wraps around the kitchen and service block, and serves as a backdrop for the dining table. “We wanted to design the wood elements as a wrap that goes around the entire house,” shares Alwani. “The ribbed wood paneling was done on site with the remaining pieces of wood we found and had it polished to match the oak as close as possible.” A rich, sleek marble topped table seats six. The dining and living zones form one large L-shaped space. They are visually separated by a wooden console with perforated brass shutters. Makrana marble flooring with diagonal black veins on white, paired with rich oak walls and a pristine white ceiling complete this space.

Kitchen

Unusual for a typical apartment, the kitchen comes right at the entrance of the space, neatly hidden away by a sliding door clad in the same oak veneer as the rest of the house. The kitchen and service areas are compactly tucked away within this space. The kitchen floor is in white marble, as is the rest of the apartment. Charcoal grey textured wall tiles form the dado while pearl brown granite adorns the counter tops. Oak wood laminate makes up the cabinetry.

Bedrooms

Leading off the bar unit, is an entirely oak wood panelled vestibule—the bedrooms are found on either sides of this space. The oak panelling continues to wrap around the bedroom walls and pause inside, near the wardrobes. Clean lines, rich oak and fluted glass in tandem with the white floor lends the rooms a warm, spacious and generous appeal. The oak panel and the wardrobe shutters have been laid out next to one another, blending together as one continuous wall feature. Zooming into the details, one can notice the rather special wardrobe shutters: fluted beige-back painted glass and veneer with black handles. “These have been custom designed specifically to achieve the look and feel of a panelled surface,” says Jalan. Rich brown leather found in the headboards along with oak side tables complement one another, in addition to the treated wall surfaces.

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