This 370

By Rupali Sebastian

Chicken soup. A bowl brimming with comfort. Warm, fortifying, nourishing. Perhaps that's why Mariyam Pardawala, founder of fledgling design studio Capeesh, has named her latest project after the hearty broth. Like the bowl of soup, it's not big on size. But the 370-square-foot Mumbai home enjoys an enviable location—it stands right next to Jijabai Udyan, the city zoo in Byculla, overlooking its lushness. From its living room window, her clients often point out the elephants to their one-year-old daughter.

In a strategy that combines form and function, the window in the living room becomes a statement thanks to the bracketing of powder blue storage units. The room has no furniture. The carpeted floor invites people to relax in a casual fashion.

Overhead units, consoles and cupboards are concealed neatly behind panelled expanses.

The brief the couple gave Pardawala is what all of us want out of our homes: a space filled with joy, where one can unwind after a long day. Additionally, they also sought a space that was positive, bright, and allowed room for their growing family. "We took an approach of introducing fun colours and materials like speckled terrazzo flooring, warm WPC panels, pops of powder blue that made the space look young and inviting," says the young architect. "The living room is devoid of furniture except the window seat. This was done to make the living room feel spacious and to allow enough room to laze around and for their kid to play."

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A view from the entrance. A large mirror amplifies the greenery of the adjacent park and Byculla Zoo.

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While the view from the window was beautiful, the same could not be said for what lay within. The spaces provided by the builder in the bare-shell apartment were very compact. "We broke down the walls and included more space in the kitchen and common areas, even replaced walls with ply partitions to create more storage," reveals Pardawala. "The building also has a massive leakage problem so waterproofing was done wherever necessary. There is also a prevalent termite issue so multiple rounds of pest control were done at all stages of building to protect the site from any harm." The home, she adds, is fully vastu-compliant. "The stove, WC, bed, safe, mirrors were all placed keeping that in mind."

A shot of fog blue uplifts the kitchen. The scalloped Spanish tiles add a pleasing texture to the backsplash.

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In the bedroom, white WPC panelling follows the linear rhythm of the headboard.

Given the compactness of the home, space optimisation dictated every design decision. "Even if the family is small, it's still an Indian family and so there was a lot of storage requirement," smiles the 24-year-old. "The challenge was to make the 370-square-foot, 1BHK apartment seem spacious while including lots of storage."

The bed was consciously kept as a floor bed so that it doesn't feel like an obstruction in the middle of the room.

Cane shuttered wardrobes add a pleasing rusticity to the bedroom. The mirror is openable and has vanity storage behind it.

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To claim every precious inch, the architect created concealed storage behind the fluting panels in the living room by breaking down the wall. The back of this cabinet functions as the wall of the bedroom. The window seat in the living room has plenty storage on the sides and cabinets below. "All of it was kept the same colour so it doesn't look out of place and instead becomes a statement piece," points out Pardawala. A shallow cabinet in the passage opposite the bedroom comes in handy to keep the clothes hanging rack, medicines, and smaller knick-knacks. The overhead units, too, saw some clever jigsawing. "The bedroom overheads are deeper than the wardrobe. They touch the beam in the kitchen and are partially part of the kitchen as well, but since the kitchen has cabinetry in front, the depth isn't visible," explains the architect.

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The bathroom pays a nod to the adjacent zoo through its cladding of luscious emerald green tiles.

The material palette was consciously chosen to make the space bright and happy. Satin white walls and light oakwood fluted panels give a sense of warmth and calm, while pops of powder blue add a spark of fun. The speckled terrazzo flooring presents a happy contrast to the neutral oakwood TV unit and panelling, while the cane wardrobes and side table add a pleasing naturalness to the oasis of a bedroom. The bathroom, clad in emerald green tiles, metaphorically replicates the lushness of the adjacent park and zoo. Plush furnishings add oomph to the space and make it more inviting."We made a space that feels like home," says the architect. "(This is) where the client can sprawl on the living room carpet while building Jenga towers with their daughter, see the elephants in the zoo perched on the window seat, relax in the cosy bedroom after a long day of work, and cook up a storm in the pleasing kitchen space. The biggest win for any designer is to have a joyous space and client!"

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