Like most quondam apartments, #7, Southlands too, was a typical Art-Deco setup involving multiple rooms structured to facilitate conventional domesticity of an Indian household. It consisted of a formal living area, three adjoining bedrooms, a dining hall, a kitchen and a dedicated servant’s quarter. The brief posited dynamic multifunctional spaces which served different purposes from time to time, and yet involved preservation of its iconic attributes. This approach called for an evidently conscious restoration proposal which not only would anew the lost charm of a 300 sq. m 3BHK colonial apartment, but also address the multi-user specifics of a neoteric residential workspace, where

• Living room functions as a multidisciplinary workplace with multiple users
• Dining Hall converts into a gallery or exhibition space in case of an event such as an artist’s display or a collaborative pin-up.
• Emphasis lies on the contrasting static vs dynamic elements. Achieved by a studio- space which is rearrangeable and playful as opposed to beds and storage which portray permanence and stillness.
• Clear segregation of service core from master spaces with a strong sense of order guiding the user through a sequential experience.

Despite the pronounced division of existing space, the apartment evinced an ambiguous experience, in terms of internal navigation and functionality. Directing the design to improve spatial relationships and establish an orderly organization, maintaining hierarchy, transparency and simplicity. The design principles were thus derived on the basis of five spatial concepts:

• Transparency - through accentuation of axial geometry; by observing loci of punctures across solid planes to allow visual penetration and systematic circulation
• Natural Light & Ventilation - visual connection across the planes enabling a ‘whole to part’ recognition of spaces in the user’s cognition.
• Centripetal organization – inward-looking organization with utmost reverence for existing surfaces; retention of undisturbed planes (floor, ceiling and walls) in order to consciously deter any design intervention to the existing envelope.
• Inherent materiality – no cladding/painting or surface treatment – virtue of material celebrated – austerity of materials to show the clear distinction between ‘existent’ and ‘insertion’.
• Simplicity – optimal use of existing spatial elements such as vertical planes (walls), horizontal planes (ceiling and floor) and openings (doors, windows and subtracted walls) – to create a play between the living and otherwise.

Altogether, this methodological approach tendered a homogenous space, which allowed dynamic functionality and yet a structured basis for routine life, in alignment with the variable domesticity of user/s involved