Luxury Home in Kolkata, West Bengal | Home Tour

Summary

This interior design project transforms an 8,000 square foot house in Kolkata, India into a modern, stylish and functional home for a family of five. It features a double-height central living area with marble floors, wood paneling and concrete accents highlighting the textures. A key statement piece is the intricate wooden staircase with built-in seating. Other spaces include a veranda terrace, open plan kitchen/dining with mirrored wall to enlarge the space, formal and informal living rooms opening to the terrace, an upper level master suite and bedrooms for the three teens. Throughout the architects aimed to create understated luxury with subtle colors, interest through varied textures and forms, and an overall design promoting the lifestyle and views of the occupants.

Takeaways

• 😊 The house has a height of 22 feet below the false ceiling in the central living area, allowing an open and airy feel
• 👷‍♂️ The staircase demonstrates fine craftsmanship, with an MS frame clad in wood panels and other finishes
• 🚪 The layout includes a central core with kitchen, dining room, living area, bedrooms and veranda
• ☀️ The site faces east, allowing sunlight throughout the day, especially in the north-facing kitchen and dining
• 🏠 It's a 8,000 sq ft house for a family of 5 with 3 teenage children
• ⚖️ The brief focused on subtle, understated luxury with functionality
• 🖼️ Materials include wood, concrete and marble in a limited color palette, relying on textures
• 📐 The design aims to properly position site, rooms and furniture to address sustainability
• 😀 The clients and architects are happy with balancing aesthetics, technicals and function
• 🌇 It provides open views and connects internal spaces to the surrounding external areas

Q & A

What are some of the main design elements and materials used in the home?

The main design elements and materials include wood paneling and flooring, marble floors, concrete accents, large windows and balconies, custom metalwork like the staircase, and strategic use of lighting.

What was the overall design brief and goal for the home?

The brief was for an understated yet stylish home with subtle luxury that would enhance the lifestyle of the 5 family members, with a focus on functionality.

How does the home maximize natural light?

It has an open floor plan oriented to the north and east to maximize sunlight throughout the day. Large windows, mirrors, and reflective surfaces also help reflect and distribute light.

What are some unique architectural details?

Unique details include the 22-foot double height ceiling, the custom metalwork on the staircase, the large concrete architrave, and the way the second floor is designed around the central open space.

How was sustainability incorporated into the design?

Factors like site orientation, room positioning, window placement, and material selection were optimized for sustainability regarding sunlight, ventilation, climate control etc.

What are the main areas and rooms of the home?

The main areas include the entryway, central core with kitchen and dining, living areas, guest rooms, master suite, kids' bedrooms, outdoor balcony/terrace space.

What was the inspiration behind the staircase sculpture?

The sculpture depicts a man singing with people gathered around listening, meant to represent people gathering on the stairs and evoke a feeling of community.

How does the design balance aesthetic, functional and technical considerations?

The aesthetics were focused on materiality and revealing the textures, with selective color use. Functionality and layout were strategized based on the family's needs. Technical aspects like structure and lighting were also incorporated.

What are some of the views and sightlines created by the design?

The open plan, balconies and strategic window placement frame views of the outdoors, surrounding area, sunlight and horizon that emphasize a connection to nature.

How large is the home and what are some of the stats?

The home is around 8,000 square feet total over two floors. It has features like a 22-foot ceiling, extensive marble and wood finishes, and customized metalwork, stairs and lighting.

Outlines

00:00

😊 Overview of luxury apartment design and layout

The paragraph provides an overview of the design and layout of a luxurious 8,000 square feet apartment located in Kolkata, India. It describes the central living area with 22 feet high ceilings, the use of marble floors, teakwood panels and concrete walls, and the strategic placement of a mirror to double the visual space. An open and fluid floor plan is created using an L-shaped living room connected to a large outdoor terrace. Other spaces include a kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, guest rooms, powder rooms, and internal staircases.

05:01

👷🏽 Craftsmanship of the staircase and overall design elements

This paragraph focuses on the craftsmanship of the central staircase, which has musicians sculpted into the woodwork. It serves as a gathering area and connects the lower formal seating area to the upper master bedrooms. Other architectural details are highlighted like the architraves, textured walls, an overhead structure enclosing the stairs, and use of limited color palette with more emphasis on surface textures and materials.

Keywords

💡interiors

The interiors refer to the interior design and decoration of the house. The script mentions that the interiors should enhance the lifestyle of the occupants. Examples of interior elements include the wood paneling, marble floors, ceiling details, and staircase.

💡lifestyle

Lifestyle refers to the daily living patterns, activities, and needs of the house occupants. The interiors aim to support and enhance their lifestyle through thoughtful design. For example, having open spaces and terraces to spend time together as a family.

💡light

Light, both natural and artificial, is an important design consideration. The house layout allows daylight to enter from multiple sides over the course of the day. The hanging lights also play a role in enhancing the spaces.

💡views

Views refer to the external vistas visible from within the house, given its positioning. The terrace provides uninterrupted views of the surroundings for the occupants to enjoy.

💡materials

Various materials like wood, concrete, marble etc. are used across the house. The aim is to highlight the textures of the materials rather than play with colors.

💡staircase

The staircase is a key architectural element, with intricate woodwork and railings. It uses MS skeleton framing with various wood cladding. The figurines on the stairs add creative flair.

💡bedrooms

There are 5 bedrooms planned across 2 floors for the 5-member family. Some bedrooms open out to decks and terraces. The themes/design vary from rustic to raw to provide options.

💡sustainability

Sustainability is about creating designs harmonious with the natural environment. Aspects like site analysis, room positioning, and furniture layout support sustainability and climatology.

💡functional

Functionality in design ensures spaces cater to the practical everyday needs of occupants. Example - having a room layout that provides ease of access and circulation.

💡aesthetics

Aesthetics refers to the visual appeal and beauty of the spaces created. It is balanced with technical and functional aspects to ensure occupants' satisfaction.

Highlights

The interior is designed for a 5-member family with 3 teenage children

The brief was for an understated yet stylish luxury space with functional value

The central living area has 22 feet ceiling height below the false ceiling

The site faces east with open northern and eastern sides for optimal sunlight

The total area is around 8,000 sq ft across both floors

Floors are clad in white marble, walls combine wood, concrete and pastel colors

Strategically placed mirror doubles the space and reflections from pendant lights

The staircase features intricate woodwork framed by an MS skeleton

Sculptures depicting a singer with gathered audience decorate the staircase

The seating areas open onto a large terrace, the main outdoor space

Minimal colors used, textures of natural materials emphasized

Careful positioning of rooms and furniture enhances sustainability

Technical, functional and aesthetic aspects combined for desired outcome

The design satisfies technical, functional and aesthetic requirements

Spending time on site informs sustainable and climatic design choices

Transcripts

since you're actually coming in from a

separate place you're actually coming in

here so the entire interiors the entire

the overall look of the place should

actually enhance the overall lifestyle

of the occupant in this central living

area we have got around 22 feet height

below the fall ceiling

one major craftsmanship which has

happened is this

staircase in itself

so as you can see over here we've got

this huge architraves over here there is

a mass of wood on the two sides which

was in the form of a jolly here

[Music]

this happens to be one of the most

premium constructions in the city of

calcutta

and the first thing which actually you

know came to us was of course this total

volume

it is open on the on the northern side

and it's open on the eastern side

so you have an entire you know the whole

day of play of the shade and light in

its various hues and textures which is

happening all throughout the day

they are a five-member house there's a

five member of a family with three

children all three are in the teens so

the initial brief of the client was

it should be stylish it should be subtle

it should be understated luxury you know

and

at the same time it should have a lot of

functional value since you're actually

coming in from a separate place you're

actually coming in here so the entire

interiors the entire the overall look of

the place should actually enhance the

overall

lifestyle of the occupants

our site over here it is located in the

east tower so this is the place where we

have north this is east

this is the west and this is south

essentially you know our site is

basically facing here so this is the

place which is the hall the hall in

which we are at present and you have all

the elevators and everything which are

all basically located here so this is

how you're entering the place so the sun

rises here in the east and it goes here

towards the west

well the total area is around 8 000

square feet which includes both the

floors in this central living area we

have got around 22 feet height below the

fall ceiling

[Music]

material wise floors are all clad

totally in white marble

and if you see the walls the walls are

basically a combination of by and large

three kinds of things now first we have

wood

and wood has come in various shades you

know it's come in the form of vineyards

it's come in the form of teakwood it's

come in the form of

panelings in the form of flutings

various forms and which obviously has

kind of contrasted the various shades

also which we have

and it's also added the warmth

somewhere we've also used a little bit

of you know concrete somewhere we've

used pastel shades in the ceilings also

if you see certain concrete structures

of the original slab has been kept

the volume of the project is such that

you know you have

the central core now let us say the

central core here we have the lift then

we have the central core of the house

you have this as the kitchen over here

[Music]

and this would be the dining so here is

the dining

and now from the central core of the

house you basically go inside this

l-shaped living area

[Music]

this is where you have the elevator and

this is the place where we have the

internal stay

now here in this place you have a room

over here which has a washroom on this

side we have a powder bathroom over here

a closet area and of course another

guest room

over here and all around the southern

and the eastern side

we've got this huge veranda or a terrace

[Music]

now if you go into the dining area which

is facing the north side the kitchen

which is facing the north side abundance

of light all throughout the day

and if you look at this mirror this

mirror actually has kind of been you

know strategically placed it was

something which was placed right in the

middle of this

concrete wall so that it kind of

actually doubles the space it also kind

of actually doubles the table so here

you'll be able to see the total

reflection of the table as well as you

can see a reflection of this you know

this beautiful this hanging lights which

we got from galati

[Music]

one major craftsmanship which has

happened is this uh staircase in itself

you have a skeleton which is the ms

frame now on top of this ms frame you

have to clad it in plywood and on top of

that plywood you have to have some kind

of a cladding the skin finish you know

so that skin could be in vineyard it

could be in wood or it could be in

various other things here if you if you

see you know this chap over here he's

like you know kind of singing a song and

we actually found this you know

sculptures in a shop uh quite some time

back and we actually found this very

interesting so he's actually kind of

singing and all the other people are

actually kind of you know all around him

or all are actually gathered all around

him around this total area they're all

sitting here on this staircase and so

it's like a gathering of sorts

[Music]

as you come into the formal area you

have have a basically a formal seating

and you have a kind of an informal

seating and this entire space is

actually facing this veranda outside or

this balcony or the huge this you know

terrace outside

which is the main focus of this house

you know where

which is the main i would say the

breathing area of the house you know

because whenever you're sitting here

you'd like to go outside this is from

where you have uninterrupted views of

the surrounding the vastness of the

total areas

so as you can see over here we've got

this huge architraves over here there is

a mass of wood on the two sides which is

in the form of a jolly here

so we haven't really played around with

a huge amount of colors so it's

basically just three or four of them

it's more of the textures because we

we've we always actually feel that the

original texture of the material

actually has

a whole a whole lot of things to say and

we should be highlighting that you know

we should let that

material come out

[Music]

now there is a particular mass over here

which is basically in a kind of coming

out now this particular mass we people

have planned because this is in line

with the structure which is outside and

also in a way it kind of encapsulates

this uh stair you know as of the stair

appears to be a little tucked in and

also it kind of you know takes you

creates another interesting area as you

climb up the stair and there is another

foyer upstairs

so the upper floor what happens is

this entire area we have

we have a master room so the master

bedroom comes above this

and we have two other rooms over here so

here we have a bedroom

with uh

with a toilet over here

and then there is another bedroom over

here

with the toilet over there

the other two rooms are on the

northwestern side which belongs to the

kids now the two rooms one of these

rooms was had a deck outside so you know

and this is also connected to the

washroom over there and it's got

beautiful view you know the entire

vastness is actually shown over there

the other room which is the sun's room

theme is actually a little raw it's a

little rustic but it's also got

beautiful views you know beautiful views

the uninterrupted views of the entire

area which is there

if you actually you know sit on site

spend a little bit of time on site

many questions about you know the

sustainability and climatology are

actually answered over there so i think

if you're positioning your site

correctly positioning your rooms

correctly positioning your furniture

correctly

in an interior project it takes care of

a lot of things you know in terms of

sustainability and

the environment around

at the end of the day these are all the

aesthetic aspects on one hand you also

have the technical aspects on the other

hand and you also have the functional

aspects so when all these are actually

in a kind of combine

and brings out a good uh good you know

end result in which the end users are

happy and we are also happy at the end

of the day that we have been able to you

know draw a fine line in between all

three so i think in a way we have been

able to kind of satisfy you know all

these three aspects over here

[Music]

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