Houzz Tours
Mumbai Houzz: Architect Mahek Lalan's Home Redefines Minimalism
This compact 2-BHK apartment uses a refreshing material palette of birch plywood and concrete
With his home, Architect Mahek Lalan, founder, SML Architects, showcases how minimal decor doesn’t necessarily translate to stark spaces devoid of warmth. Working with limited space, he chose to eliminate excessive embellishments and materials and let a simple palette of birch plywood and concrete do all the talking. Kept in its raw, exposed form, birch ply has been used extensively throughout the home on doors, window shutters, jambs and handles, fixed furniture, partitions, storage units, screens, table tops, drawers and beds. Strong, clean lines dominate, while a few pockets of colour and greenery infuse warmth and a sense of homeliness.
The front door opens directly into the dining area that flows into the living room. On entering, one is welcomed by a birch ply dining table that is backed by a fixed slatted screen made from the same material. This partially separates the living-cum-dining space from the rest of the house. Past the screen, the room moves into the open-plan kitchen. To the right is a passage that leads to a guest bedroom, followed by the master bedroom at the end.
The architect pared back the colour palette, which lends the space an uncluttered vibe. The warm beige of the plywood forms a neutral backdrop for contrasting black and white furniture and furnishings in the living area. The L-shaped, slide-and-fold windows completely tuck away to flood the space with natural light. The substantial use of birch ply on most surfaces of the home imparts cohesiveness, with each element appearing as an extension of the one before.
“The sense of continuity is further enhanced with the use of the other major material element – the concrete floor that unifies the apartment,” he explains. Adding an element of visual interest are the exposed Edison bulb pendant lights and patterned throw cushions.
“The sense of continuity is further enhanced with the use of the other major material element – the concrete floor that unifies the apartment,” he explains. Adding an element of visual interest are the exposed Edison bulb pendant lights and patterned throw cushions.
A striking feature is the partial screen of vertical slats that opens up the room while affording the personal spaces enough privacy. “The biggest challenge was to free the house of the heavy masonry walls that existed. I altered the configuration of rooms to enable greater utility as well as a sense of an expanded space within the limited area,” Lalan says.
The dining area of the room includes a sleek custom-made table by the architect, crafted from 18-millimetre-thick birch ply. The legs of the table echo the pattern of the slatted screen while the black powder coated, see-through wire-frame chairs were specifically chosen for their unobtrusive appearance. Three concrete pendant lights with simple black hardware illuminate this specific area and complement the overall colour and material palette.
Chairs: Rubberband; lights: GOMAADS
Chairs: Rubberband; lights: GOMAADS
The kitchen also uses birch ply for the cabinetry and storage units. “The durability of the material is increased by using a sealing coat of clear matte oil,” says Lalan. Clever designing of the storage unit allows for full use of this structure, with different sections opening up in multiple ways, such as top-hung shutters, open shelves, vertical shutters and drawers. Fluted glass, custom designed door knobs with the edges left raw and exposed, and a concrete-finish countertop infuse the plywood palette with interesting details.
Keeping with the minimal aesthetic, the most visually heavy pieces in the guest room are a simple built-in wardrobe along the length of one wall and a storage bed that features vertical surfaces angled inwards. The black vertically panelled headboard, flanked by conical wall lights, adds interest to the vignette.
The wardrobe unit, which has also been coated with a layer of clear matte oil, features long handles that have been crafted to showcase the exposed raw surface of the plywood as a subtle design element.
“The bed in the master bedroom is a unique piece. It’s designed as a stepped platform which one can use in multiple ways to sit,” Lalan says. A nook has been fashioned along the length of the bed to hold books, another clever storage design. The room has been planned in such a way that it can be utilised as an informal space to host friends. The two slide-and-fold windows on adjacent walls further open up the room.
In the ensuite bathroom, Lalan has clad the wall with black tiles that are offset by the plywood-framed mirror and in-house custom-made monolithic marble sink. Another interesting detail that features throughout the house are the vintage toggle switches that are set in a birch ply switchboard.
Read more:
Mumbai Houzz: A Tiny Studio Apartment Makes the Most of Its Space
Ingenious Bookshelf Designs in Surprising Spots
Tell us:
What did you like most about this home? Tell us in Comments below.
Read more:
Mumbai Houzz: A Tiny Studio Apartment Makes the Most of Its Space
Ingenious Bookshelf Designs in Surprising Spots
Tell us:
What did you like most about this home? Tell us in Comments below.
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Who lives here: Architect Mahek Lalan
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Year built: 2017
Size: 75 square metres (807 square feet); 2 bedrooms; 2 bathrooms
Interior designer and architect: Architect Mahek Lalan, founder, SML Architects
Photos courtesy Sameer Tawde