Luxury fast-tracked. Two words that capture the essence of this project. The site was a builder-provided 3BHK apartment in Surat, and the family of four who would claim this as their home were short on time. Yet, they required a home that would convey a sense of the upscale. While the spatial programme was tweaked by replacing one bedroom with a multipurpose (family cum play cum guest) room, the aesthetic articulation was based on a curvilinear syntax to achieve a certain smoothness, bolstered by small interventions such as handle-less furniture and the use of transparent and reflective expanses. The latter also helped to create an illusory sense of space in the 1100-sq-ft, low-ceiling apartment. The ‘curved’ idea was applied to the smallest of elements — the junctions of walls and ceilings — to the largest of expanses, such as partitions. Time was saved by wisely deciding on retaining the builder-provided flooring and turning the attention towards creating a characterful mix of loose designer furniture rather than spending energy on civil-work and custom-made wood-work. 

The layout is simple enough: the living room and the dining area constitute the public zone, bordered by a largish, deck-like balcony which acts like the extension of these two functional pockets. Across this section lies the kitchen, which is shielded from the entrance by a wall that stops just short of the ceiling. This strategy ensures that the ceiling expanse stays unfragmented, maintaining a visual sense of one-ness and spaciousness.