Colour Coded

A+T Associates craft a minimal and colourful home  interspersed with handpicked artworks, furnishings and furniture, for a family of five in Vadodara.   

Curated by: Deepa Nair
Photographs: Tejas Shah; courtesy A+T Associates

The brief

Architects Tanvi Rajpurohit and Archis Patel who head the Vadodara-based A+T Associates were commissioned to design a two-storied home for a family of five. Located in Anand, the Keshavam Bungalow was to be built on a corner plot. The clients wanted a simple, elegant and timeless home with five bedrooms. They also wanted the spaces to be cosy, comfortable and intimate.

The spatial flow

The ground floor of Keshavam Bungalow has public spaces like the foyer, living room, kitchen, dining, and the other related services. The grandmother’s bedroom and a guest bedroom is also accommodated on this level. The pooja room is also placed on the ground floor, partially detached from the main house block, and accessible from the garden area. On the first floor, the master and son’s bedrooms, along with a family room cum home office is positioned; while the second floor has the daughter’s bedroom with her private terrace space. The staircase and house elevator is placed in the centre of the house for easy connectivity.

The design intent

A+T Associates is known to use a lot of neutrals in their projects, but for the Keshavam Bungalow, they decided to break the pattern, and play with a riot of colours. “We have used bright and fresh tones in the form of white oak wood veneer, lots of greys on walls, pop colours in furniture, furnishings, lighting, artworks and accessories. All the common connected spaces have a uniform theme, but individual rooms are given a character of its own. The bedrooms for the son and daughter have been designed very carefully observing their persona,” inform the architects.

The design and material details

The home opens into a small but well-defined foyer area, styled with earthy elements. Here, a bespoke wall art piece portraying the twilight moon hangs over an oak veneer console. Close to this setting, an open style metal partition makes it an inviting cosy yet connecting entrance. The living room besides it is minimally done with most of the walls in glass, except for the one which has the television. All the modern furniture here were bought off the shelf. A small outdoor pocket with a small seating space is connected to the dining area; while a sliding aluminium profile and fluted glass partition set close to the dining area gives privacy to the modern kitchen. The staircase space features an art installation (detailed by hand-painted tribal graphics) inspired by the chandelier which hovers over this double-height space.

The son’s bedroom on the first floor has a moody, dramatic and bold theme — with emerald green marble, grey IPS texture walls with black added at certain places for that bold touch. The master bedroom is modern contemporary and minimalistic. A fully fabric upholstered bed with oak veneer bed back, and a longitudinal glass opening from which architectural facade jaali can be seen are the highlights here. The daughter’s room with her private terrace has a feminine touch, and is also minimal in style — with peach and French blue colour combination with grey walls, and a circular art work which depicts her grace and confidence.

The highlights

“We enjoyed designing the son’s and daughter’s bedrooms the most as we got to play with lots of colours, details and bespoke art works,” says Tanvi. “Also, we quite enjoy creating thoughtful artworks or installations for our projects. The staircase art work installation is feature of the house,” adds Archis.

Fact file

Project: Keshavam Bungalow
Client: Kaushik Shah
Location: Anand, Gujarat
Area: 5,000 sq ft (plot) and 6,700 sq ft (built-up)
Principal architects: Archis Patel and Tanvi Rajpurohit
Design team: Srushti, Ishita