1930s Multipurpose Apartment Renovation in Mumbai by SquareWorks.

SquareWorks revamped the charming 1930s Art Deco Apartment, No.7 Southlands in Mumbai, creating dynamic and multifunctional spaces while preserving its heritage attributes. The interior now caters to a residential workspace and studio shared by multiple artists, with the designers taking a conscious approach to maintaining original features that also cater to modern demands.

“The project intends to celebrate the inherent quintessence of a sangfroid ‘Bombay-ish’ precedent with distinct incorporation of consciously designed alterations,” explain SquareWorks.

Emphasis is placed on contrasting static vs dynamic elements. The interior is rearrange-able and playful as opposed to housing beds and storage that portray permanence and stillness. The dining hall converts into a gallery or exhibition space in case of an event, such as an artist’s display or a collaborative exhibition. Terrazzo tiles in mottled shades of blue and green, abundant indoor plants and timber cabinetry and doorframes against fresh white walls accentuate a colonial aesthetic.

To maintain a sense of ambiguity throughout the interior, SquareWorks were guided by broad design concepts that ensured an open and versatile feel. These include transparency, minimizing solid divides between rooms; natural light and ventilation, ensuring flow from one space to the next; inherent materiality, avoiding any cladding, painting or surface treatment; an inward-looking organization of space, preserving existing surfaces; simplicity, making optimal use of existing spatial elements.

“All in all, as an assemblage of users and activities, it epitomizes an equilibrium between the paradoxical entities such as ‘personal – professional’, ‘single-multi’, ‘private-public’ and ‘old-new’,” conclude SquareWorks.