A Bengaluru apartment that celebrates India’s rich culture

Studio Skapa Architects skillfully handle motifs, patterns and restrained colours in different scales in this home.

Curated by: Rupali Sebastian
Photographs: Photographix India | Parth Swaminath; courtesy Studio Skapa Architects

The Motif Home is the private space of a couple who recently moved back to India from the US and had decided at that point that Bengaluru would be where they would put down roots. “Being a well read and well-travelled couple, they were pretty clear on their ideologies. Indian art, history, cinema and culture was something that they had in-depth knowledge of and were keen to incorporate in their home,” says Studio Skapa Architects’ Charita Kishore who helped the couple realise this dream. “From our discussions, we concluded that we needed to give them something that would be close to nature and celebrated culture. And that’s how the concept for ‘The Motif Home’ was created. We have used motifs, patterns and colours in different forms and scales, all influenced by India’s rich heritage of art and craftsmanship.”

The foyer
The passage at the entrance of the 1,400-sq-ft apartment was converted into a foyer by installing an elegant credenza-like shoe storage unit with a little seat that is supported by a custom-made wooden leg. Sporting a rich walnut polish, this bespoke piece sets a warm tone that suggests an extensive use of natural materials for the rest of the house. Also, at the entrance is an interesting poster — an abstract depiction of four famous movies that hints at the couple’s love for Indian cinema. The transition zone between the foyer and living houses a beautiful console and a distressed grey circular mirror.

The living room
This space is kept fairly simple with white walls and a mostly neutral colour palette with only pops of red to highlight the space. “Our clients were very particular about having a very comfortable couch as they would spend a lot of time on it, so we went with an easy maintenance, extremely comfortable off-white two-seater with wide armrests,” says Charita Kishore, principal architect, Studio Skapa. The Hero of the living room is the large piece of a Sabyasachi wallpaper from the Nilaya collection, framed and used as a statement piece.

The dining area
Being an open floor-plan, the dining space, with its unapologetic use of motifs and patterns, is almost visible from the foyer itself. A compact four-seater dark Sheesham wood dining table and chairs add a perfect contrast to the sand dune shade of the wooden flooring below. The chairs have a rattan weave and a beautiful linen silver grey fabric for the seat. The glass Mughal-style pendant above the dining adds subtle richness. The bespoke built-in crockery/bar console that is part of this area celebrates motifs — on its shutters, backsplash tiles and the brass knobs. “We fell in love with those gorgeous embossed ceramic tiles with subtle hints of silver and bronze to highlight the various patterns on each tile,” says Charita. Two custom-made wooden pillars added on either side evoke images of a beautiful haveli.

The study/home library
The extensive collection of tomes ranging from art to history to cinema to fiction and a lot more deserved a space of its own. “This is exactly what we have tried to achieve with the home library,” points out the architect. “The study that doubles up as a home library was one of the most exciting spaces for us in this project. Although our clients initially thought they’d find such a huge bookshelf overwhelming, now they couldn’t be happier,” she smiles.

Unlike the rest of the house with its textures and motifs, this room uses colour-blocking to great effect. “We chose a pleasant French Blue for this unit with open shelving of various sizes above and routed profile shutters for storage below,” Studio Skapa Architects’ principal tells us. The single solid colour is the perfect base for books of different sizes and colours. At one side, a comfortable recliner with a foot stool creates the perfect reading corner.

The kitchen
“A white kitchen is something that our client’s dreamt of having,” reveals the architect. “Although the size of the kitchen is compact, we have designed it in such a way to provide ample storage space and functionality with smart kitchen solutions.” White routed profile shutters are paired with azulejo-inspired blue-patterned ceramic tiles, Vetro Bianco white quartz counters and dramatic dark blue handles for the shutters.

The guest bedroom
This modest-sized bedroom is packed with charm and character. Its highlight is a beautiful wallpaper from Sabyasachi’s Nilaya collection again. “We picked ‘Jaipur Valencia’ to go behind the headboard of the bed,” reminisces Charita. “We created a ledge on the wall behind the bed at around two-third the height of the wall and wallpapered the portion below the ledge for an interesting look.” Other highlights are wardrobe shutters rendered from walnut veneer teamed with rattan panels or mirror.

The master bedroom
To foster a sense of relaxation, the clients were very clear about a neutral palette for their private space. Therefore, the master bedroom was resolved as a simple and elegant space with white walls, wood and rattan. A large floor-to-ceiling wardrobe — similar to the one in the guest room — provides ample storage space for the couple. A full-length dressing mirror by the bathroom door increases functionality. “All these mirrors reflect the natural light coming in and make the room look bright and spacious,” elucidates Charita.

The bathrooms
The bathrooms were the most transformed spaces in this project. The erstwhile derelict spaces were rejuvenated with gorgeous patterned tiles, fitting the central design idea. While the master bedroom uses blue-and-white-patterned tiles on the main wall and solid blue ones for the floor, the guest en suite features beautiful rustic white tiles on all walls and blue-and-red-pattern tile for the floor. The powder room, on the other hand, displays patterned tiles on the floor and the WC ledge wall, while the rest of the walls are rustic white.