Selected work
Renovation
Houses and flats reworked inside an existing shell, where what is already there decides what the design can do.
Renovation is where design discipline matters most. The shell exists, the services exist, and the sequence has to be planned as carefully as the drawings.
Every project below was surveyed, drawn, visualised in 3D and reviewed by the Principal Architect before work began.
How we approach renovation
Three commitments, in that order.
A new home starts with a blank site. A renovation starts with a building whose decisions were made decades ago.
- ASurvey before design. Before a line is drawn we check which walls carry load and the age and capacity of the wiring. We also check where the plumbing stack runs and where damp is getting in. That survey sets the limit of what the design can do, so it comes first. More on how we scope a renovation.
- BKeep what is worth keeping, and say which. Older homes hold things worth more than anything we would put in their place. Think of a floor worth restoring, a timber window, a wall that catches the morning. We name those early and draw them as protected. We are equally plain about what has reached the end of its life.
- CSequenced around the family. A renovation is a construction site inside someone's home. Where the work allows we phase it. Services and wet areas are done in one run, and dust stays in one zone. Where it does not, we say so beforehand.
Reading the set
What each of these is doing.
Brigade Gateway. In Rajajinagar one wall carries the living and dining end. A grey tower of lit niches holds a family's brass and ceramics. A marble-look television panel carries a single brass inlay line, with a fluted timber console under both.
Bhansali Kunj. A study is drawn as two workstations rather than one, on a continuous stone worktop under a backlit shelf. A fluted fabric partition screens the desks from the room behind.
GSB House. The clearest Indian move in the set. A full-height jaali in dark timber, cut in a repeating lotus lattice, stands between the entrance and the living room. It screens the door, passes light and air, and does what a solid partition would do badly.
Pramukk Meridian. The dining table is put in the light. A deep green recessed panel holds the artwork on one side, and a stone crockery unit on the other. The table sits square to a full-height window.
Suncity Apartments. The upholstered headboard does not stop at the bed. It runs on as a channel-tufted wall that turns the corner to screen a dressing area. So one element makes both a bedroom and a wardrobe.
TJ Flat. A compact living room gets one strong idea. A geometric colour-block wall is answered by a blue lattice of backlit niches holding brass and terracotta. A window seat sits in the grille bay.
From the portfolio to your home
Where this leads.
Questions
Common questions.
Can we stay in the house during the work? +
Often, and we plan for it where the work allows. Rewiring, wet areas and structural change are the phases that usually force a family out, so we group them into one run. Where staying is not safe we say so before the work starts, not halfway through.
Do you renovate flats as well as houses? +
Both. A flat is bounded by the association's rules, the service shafts and a slab you may not cut. An independent house has more freedom and more to check: load-bearing walls, roof condition, old wiring. The survey differs; the method does not.
How do you decide what to keep? +
By condition first and character second. Anything structural is judged on assessment, not sentiment. Beyond that we look for what the house already does well, and those elements go into the drawings as protected.
Planning a home or project like these?
Book a video consultation with the Principal Architect. We will talk through your space, your site or flat, and how we would approach it.