SNN Clermont is a development in the outskirts of Bangalore, in a very fast developing area that is also close to the airport. The development is a gated community with 5 buildings together. The architecture of the building is very international-clean-lined and neutral. Each building has 40 floors. The landscape between them is lush and green and the community boasts fabulous amenities for home owners. There is a lovely view of a nearby lake as well. The clients are a young couple, much like many other home owners in the development. They also live in a ‘joint-family’ which is very common in India. The Family is into business of steel manufacturing and they own a steel company involved in manufacturing of TMT bars used in highway construction. When they approached us, they had a daughter and as we handed the project to them after 2 years, their son was just born. They had bought two units (floor 32 and 33), one above the other which we converted into a duplex. Each unit had 4 bedrooms each and we combined the two units to have 6 bedrooms with several common spaces. The apartment space consists of 2 master bedrooms, 2 kids’ bedrooms, 2 guest bedrooms, one large formal living with formal dining area and dry kitchen & wet kitchen with utility areas. On the upper floor there is a family living area/entertainment area with space for bar & media room and private bedrooms.
As a young cosmopolitan Indian family, they wanted this home to be contemporary and free of the fuss of their previous home which was more old-fashioned and housed traditional elements from the previous generation. With most contemporary homes, we get briefs that range from tropical to minimal; from straight lined to understated, but with this particular couple with two young children, the brief was more liberal, they were not particular about an absolute direction but they didn’t want a run of the mill home that looked like any other home with straight lines and contemporary anonymity. They wanted character andwere open to explore curves with a definite language and most certainly wanted something out of the box. And so, they gave us their baby to do what we do best - create a bespoke space that is unique and memorable.
Our vision and plan for the home fell into place once we understood the brief and requirement of the clients and when we started to think of how we could connect the floors. We asked ourself several questions which guided us to the final vision. These questions were more about function at first and then about the aesthetics. Should the connection between the floors be the focal point? Should the staircase be hidden or should it be a strong design element? What location would it be most functional? Which area would the family use most? Which is the best view? Since we have marble as a requirement, should be choose one and lay it as a continuous floor or should the floor also be a piece of art? And most importantly, how can we respond to the space and architecture of the building we have been given (in a huge gated community where every apartment is mostly cookie cutter) and how can we transform it to be something completely different that integrates the client’s personality???
The answers to these led us to envision a space that was bold and dramatic in an understated way; away from tropical colors of India; away from the banal straight lined beige home one often sees in tall rises and gated communities; an airy and easy feel that emulated a house rather than an apartment; where the fluidic flow of form continued from the lower level to the upper level seamlessly; where several materials intersected in harmony; and where a common apartment grid with beige marble metamorphosed into a peach canvas interspersed with soft three-dimensional forms and meandering striped patterns in black and whites.
To connect the two levels, visually and functionally we had two cut outs between the floors. The staircase on the right of the entrance to the lower level was one cut out. The other cutout was introduced above the living space of the lower level which had two functions. The first was to create a double height space connection between the two floors visually and the seconds was for quick communication between the floors. We also created two master suites in each floor thereby consuming one room on each level to create a bigger master on each floor. 8 rooms became 6.
Once we had determined the location of the cut outs we moved to the shape of these elements. We were certain we didn’t want straight lines, so we began our usual process of looking into nature for inspiration. From shell exoskeleton to caterpillar curvatures; from topographical maps of different landscapes to fish scales; and from sand dunes to waves, we researched form, shape and pattern. The inspiration and research fanned the spark of our idea into a full-blown fire! On the get go, we narrowed on five important elements that would set in stone (no pun intended) the strong visual and spatial language of the space - flooring that was dramatic in its laying pattern - something bold and thoughtful combining more than one marble; a circular staircase to create a sculptural feel (with an addition of multiple curves in each riser in a deep red marble); a voluptuous central cutout that was counter intuitive with its heavy yet intense mass; a wavy double height wall to lengthen and connect the floors and lead one’s eyes vertically and laterally across the cross section of the home; a false ceiling that would not only be responsible for hiding the conducting but would also lend itself aesthetically and descent in topographic like concentric layers and allow a smooth transition between different ceiling heights of the space.
As we started to select the marble (a common requirement most Indians have) we selected colours and stone variation that would work with our atypical vision. We fell in love with two peach/pink based marbles - Porto (a light peach Portugese marble) and a beautiful peach one with black striations called Michelangelo Verde. We also chose a white and black for a particular detail we had in mind.
For the lower level we created an inlay pattern much like repeating fish scales or groups of overlapping wild mushrooms but more abstract and we used our medley of materials. We used the peach marble to fill in the segments and only highlighted it with a black and white border in the outside boundary. For the second level we used the peach marble all over and only embellished the central area as a hexagonal circle with the straight grained Michelangelo (that alone looked like wooden grains) that met at the wedges of each triangle. The stairs were a deep red marble called Red Rose. The clients also fell in love with the two floor concepts and their tight tonality. For the bedrooms we used a combination of engineered wood with small details in each room that were done in marbles. Some rooms had a mini foyer in-lay while others had a border set inside. The bathrooms of the bedrooms were a combination of marble and tile and remained within the parameters we set for tonality, colors and patterns without too much deviation. The powder room is theatrical with a scooped out arch niche treated with a traditional Indian ‘amini’ motif (mango motif) in hand done glass mosaic, showing off our Indian ‘Karigiri’ or craftsmanship. This craftsmanship is a thing to note in all flooring inlay because it is a deep-rooted talent for this type of intricate work that has been done for generations in India and passed down as a tradition. This kind of labor was dying at an increasingly fast pace until a few years ago. Then several designers have made a concerted effort to revive our arts, crafts and karigiri. We too are conscious of this as we design our projects.
Back to the house, all walls and ceilings were treated with a broken white Micro concrete wall texture that had subtle movement but allowed for the form it painted to be the piece de résistance. This soft texture subtly added a layer with its texture without being too bold. And hence our palette naturally fell into place with a light peach being the neutral. The walls took on a broken white and simple striped highlights stood out in black and white.
The unusual color palette of peach, black and white for an Indian home with these nature inspired curvatures and rounded forms which resulted in a mildly minimal-futuristic vibe makes us look in from the outside and feel that, perhaps, we were subliminally inspired by continuously evolving pop and contemporary cultures; or perhaps it is a rebellion to the banal browns and beiges and combinations of warm colors we see all the time in a tropical and conservative society like India. Whatever it maybe, our vision to produce a work that was creative and artistic, that stood out in a cookie cutter community; that just by its walls, ceilings, and floor, defied the mundane use of space gave us and its inhabitants pure joy to see the lines and curves continue infinitely.
In a space as dynamic as this where the skeleton of the space is the main actor, the furniture (or at least most of it) has to take on a supporting role. Or we so decided. For the same reason we wanted the walls to be subtle, we wanted the furniture and the skin of the space to be of the same colour so the forms of both stand out. We chose soft shapes in bouclé, self-textured cotton blends and microfibers for their fabrics. In the lower level, in addition to the black coffee tables, a last-minute decision to add a single green and a single peach table was to create vibrancy in the otherwise monochromatic zone. A black FRP ball sculpture fits perfectly without the curvature of the staircase and brings attention to it. The dining set sits under lower part of the topographic ceiling. The dining table is also FRP in large black amorphous forms seen through the double glass table top and is paired with simple chairs upholstered in a broken white bouclé. A puja room for prayers is tucked away in the east corner and is treated with a coppery tone on its perforated wall and door with leaf motifs.
In the upper level, we chose a Moroso pebble sofa to stand out in a deep red similar to the stairs. It complements the Michelangelo floor and follows the curvature of the rounded ceiling above. Similar to the lower level, a perforated black door slides to open into the media room. The open kitchenette is an ombré from black to copper.
In the bedrooms, the beds and furniture have soft corners or rounded details to keep the consistency in the design language. Colours of the room are picked from the main living areas - black and white; peaches; taupes and olives - to maintain a connect and an even experience throughout the home.
Team:
Interior Architecture and Design: FADD STUDIO
Interior Contractors: NJR Interiors
Wall Textures: Limocoat
Marble contractor: Marble Art Laxman
Photo credit: Gokul Rao Kadam
Styling credit: Samir Wadekar
Additional Styling credit: Manisha Mittal
Video credit: Sohaib Ilyas
Material Used:
1. Flooring: Marble, Marble Art Laxman
2. Interior lighting: Architectural lights, Defa
