Perched atop the 11th floor of an apartment complex, was this penthouse, which the Sadariyas called their home. Mr. Sadariya, a businessman and Mrs. Sadariya, a homemaker, with their two sons, together make an easygoing and calm-loving family who would choose a subtle yet effervescent aesthetic over any kind of an overstatement.
So when they zeroed in on Usine, the team’s objective was to give them a house that imbues a subtle luxury; something that is pleasant as well as practical without the weight of extravagance. The place was conceptualized such that all the sharing spaces of the house, the living room, the dining space, and the courtyard are always in clear visual connect with one another allowing them to be capable of accommodating more people by becoming one large area dedicated to the gathering. The rest of the personal spaces were detailed with a delicate opulence laid into a decided color palette.
The house begins with a slight touch of god for the Sadariyas wished that the entrance itself becomes their holy threshold. A curvy Ganesha sits on the face wall, in the form of a golden metallic mural which is slightly distanced from the wall, thus creating a soft, shadowy depth in the frame. The large planted vases on the travertine marble look like a constant offering to the lord in this foyer. At the other end is a shoe rack that ends at the chest level, above which are bands of mirror spaced apart for a hide-and-seek mirror check while coming into or leaving the house.
The living room and the dining space have a subtle, subdued character against the double height courtyard, which is celebrated as the highlight. These spaces are divided with openable partitions. The living room is flanked with sets of rich brown, Italian sofas coupled with a neutral shade of curtains as the backdrop. This brown and white palette is bathed in a soft light from the 1” slim recessed lights fit into the false ceiling such that it bounces off from the ceiling.
The gaze is straightaway attracted to the courtyard whose main feature is the wooden panels in rust and orange, which run along the double height. These were a cleverly designed to disguise the storage entry door from plain view. They are lit up from the recesses causing streaks of strong yellow light to fall against the semi-finished concrete surface. The space is livened up with quirky pieces of furniture that make it flexible to use as well. It overlooks a patch of green next to a water feature making this place the perfect spot to spend a lovely evening amidst the gurgling of water and plants.
The dining space is snugly arranged with semi-upholstered wooden chairs around a white top wooden table. A couple of brown and white shelves sit closely with this set up as with the wooden panels of the courtyard becoming the background here too.
The kitchen completely opens into the dining space as Mrs. Sadariya loves to serve her family with piping hot food straight from the flame, herself. It allows her to watch them enjoy her cooking, keeps the family closer, they rightly believe. This neatly equipped, modular kitchen is an expression of elegance in gray. The cabinetry is in cold, clean glass finish ruled with straight lines and simple proportions.
The bedroom next to the kitchen belongs to the client’s elderly parents and so a very subdued tone of gold is chosen to lend an ageless classic feel to the place. Undertones of gray and beige are teamed with wooden paneling and side tables to add to the classic setting.
The younger son’s bedroom is done in a blue and gray to portray the right mix of playful and suave. There were one too many offsets to deal within the room. So, the designers devised an exposed RCC wall to be basically used as a backrest of the bed, thus resolving the niche and putting it to practical use. The highlight of the room is a navy blue wall that holds a white cabinet shelf, which seems to be float against the blue, stayed only by a cantilevered wooden study ledge. The room also enjoys a large window that frames his share of a balcony that is common between his and the elder son’s room. The balcony is divided into two parts: the one in front of this room is made into a patch of lawn while the other is a pergola topped wooden deck. The aluminum pergola has staggered cuts upon its members giving a dynamic feel to the space. The elder son’s room is done with majorly neutral shades with highlights of sky blue. The toilets attached to these rooms as well as the master bedroom are quite compact. So, the walls and floors are covered with exquisite Italian marble while the rest of the layout is left uncluttered sparing the walls with the mirror. Each of these walls has a geometric metal stencil that is lit up with yellow or orange light from behind. These subtle patterns of light add an instant touch of glamour in these toilet spaces.
The only shared space at the second level is the home theatre which also becomes the sons’ and their friends’ hangout space every now and then. This again called for the design to be accommodative again. So, instead of rigid and singular armchairs, plush and undivided recliner sofas were acquired from Spain. The rug is thicker and soft than usual to let it be comfortable enough to sit upon if need be. This room is darker than the others for the projection requirements but it still has a framed view to the double height courtyard below, yet again connecting the shared spaces of this house effectively.
To sum up, the Sadariya House is a house large in its heart with all its common spaces linked up and rendered with befitting characters while the commons ones synced with each other and within, through color palettes and spaces, both.