Creating Open Spaces

Project: Home on Kensington Road, Bangalore; Architects: ma+rs

In the project, architects ma+rs has created an open living plan, filling up the space with ample natural light and a clear visual connect to the greenery outside.

TEXT BY: Sabyasachi Routray & Anisha Menon

The clients, a textile designer and her entrepreneur husband, gave the architects a clear understanding of the type of home they were looking to create– which was a conscious, warm and simple home with abundant use of natural materials and an earthy palette. They were looking to convert a rather cramped three-bedroom apartment into an open and bright two bedroom + studio setup.

The two-decade old apartment had an unobstructed view of lush green on one side; yet seemed rather dimly lit. The architects thought of tearing down some of the walls and opening out the spaces to get in abundant natural light, which in turn would uplift the quality of the spaces, almost instantly. The primary idea was to create a comfortable, calm and thoughtful space responding to the needs and lifestyle of the people living in it.

The apartment is a 1281sq ft space in the heart of Bengaluru overlooking the Ulsoor lake, and fringed by lush green defence land towards the rear. It was spacious; however, it was compartmentalised and did not have an unobstructed flow of spaces, making it appear crowded and dimly lit.

Opening up the existing kitchen and bedroom helped to bring in natural light from the attached balconies connected to the living and bedroom. In turn, this also created an open living plan. To create the studio space, the bedroom adjacent to the living was reconfigured, which had a large private balcony. The studio is separated from the living dining space physically with

SABYASACHI ROUTRAY, Co-Founder, ma+rs

Sabyasachi graduated from D.Y Patil college of Architecture, Pune. In 2012, he went on to intern at Mathew & Ghosh architects (Bangalore) for 4 months where he worked on projects like Freedom Park-Phase 2 and residential projects. After which he worked as architect at flying elephant studio (Bangalore) for 4 years. He worked on projects like APF School and district insitute, IIIT-Bangalore, residential projects varying from single house scale to towers and institutional architecture competitions.

The existing white Indian marble flooring has been retained and repolished, which has been kept constant in most areas in order to create a feeling of seamlessly traversing through the space, unifying the apartment and creating a muted base for all the other elements and materials to counterbalance.

BEFORE

THE INITIAL PLAN WAS SPACIOUS HOWEVER IT WAS COMPARTMENTALISED AND DID NOT HAVE AN UNOBSTRUCTED FLOW OF SPACES, THUS MAKING IT DIMLY LIT. OPENING UP THE EXISTING KITCHEN COMPLETELY HELPED TO BRING IN NATURAL LIGHT FROM THE SMALL BALCONY CONNECTED TO THE LIVING SPACE.

AFTER

TO CREATE THE STUDIO SPACE, WE RECONFIGURED THE BEDROOM ADJACENT TO THE LIVING WHICH HAD A LARGE PRIVATE BALCONY. THE STUDIO IS SEPERATED FROM THE LIVING DINING PHYSICALLY WITH TEAK WOOD & GLASS PARTITION WITH FOLDING DOORS. CREATING AN OPEN LIVING PLAN, FILLING UP THE SPACE WITH AMPLE NATURAL LIGHT AND ALSO CREATING A CLEAR VISUAL CONNECT TO THE GREENERY OUTSIDE AT ALL TIMES WHEN IN THE LIVING, DINING AND KITCHEN.

ANISHA MENON, Co-Founder, ma+rs Anisha Menon graduated from Rizvi college of Architecture in Bombay in 2011. She interned at Vastu-Shilpa consultants (Ahmedabad) for 6 months and then worked there as an architect for 10 months. Her work at VSC included urban scale competitons and Earthquake memorial at Bhuj. After which she worked at Flying Elephant Studio (Bengaluru) for 3 years handling institutional projects like APF School and district institute and IIIT-Bengaluru.

As designers we strive to create a protective, tranquil atmosphere making the feeling of home, warmth and peace palpable. Keeping this in mind we created a timeless neo-traditional space to which the couple can keep adding and subtracting over the years.

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FLOOR PLAN

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1. DINING 2. STUDY 3. MASTER BEDROOM 4. KITCHEN 5. LIVING 6. FOYER 7. GUEST BEDROOM a teak wood and glass partition, with folding doors. Creating an open living plan, filled up the space with ample natural light and also created a clear visual connect to the greenery outside at all times when in the living, dining and kitchen.

The existing white Indian marble flooring has been retained and repolished, which has been kept constant in most areas in order to create a feeling of seamlessly traversing through the space, unifying the apartment and creating a muted base for all the other elements and materials to counterbalance. The walls are primarily white, with accents of smooth cement finish plaster in some areas. Extensive use of teak wood and rattan adds warmth and exudes a homely charm. Brass accents, hardware and lights add a touch of indulgence to the otherwise grounded palette. The kitchen has been treated as an element of pop with the addition of sage green.

As designers we strive to create a protective, tranquil atmosphere making the feeling of home, warmth and peace palpable.

Photo credit: Ishita Sitwala

FACTFILE

Design Team: Sabyasachi Routray, Anisha Menon, Indulekha Paul Area: 1281sq ft