On entering the house through the heroic sunburst door with solid brass handles, a serene sound of water rippling over brass lotuses, lot of natural light coming in, statuario marble laid at your feet, and a passage that leads your eyes to the temple door, awaits you. Entertaining and hosting is the heart of the home as evidenced by the formal living, family room and dining area opening up into the court.
Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future. Some designs stand out from the crowd with their loud colors and flashy finishing, but this contemporary abode takes a different approach.
Setting out to build a home for his multi generational family the client tasked B&A Design Studio to build a home that can uphold Indian values which he holds dear —such as filial piety and hierarchy —and much more.
This includes a space where he could host business associates, extended family and extended family and friends, as well as features such as a Hobby Area, Gentleman’s Lounge, an informal room, and 7bedrooms.
For B&A, the challenge was designing a house to accommodate four generations:
the client and his elderly parents, his son and daughter in law and 2 grandsons.
This required them to understand the nuances of each generation in the family.
Connection Between Spaces
As every great design begins with an even better story, this would then guide us in the overall design of the home, enabling us to balance the connections between intimate private spaces and communal spaces in a way that harmoniously reflects the family culture.
E-85, The Bangur house is located in a quiet neighbourhood in the capital of the country, Vasant Vihar.Drawing inspiration from the traditional Chinese quadrangle house, or si he Yuan, the design is structured and not overly flamboyant, a trait that’s said to be characteristic of the client. Symmetry and hierarchy reign as the bedrooms and private areas are spread across the two upper floors, arranged hierarchically with the master bedroom at the top, and children’s rooms at the lower levels –reflective of the traditional family order and structure.
Space Utilization
The ground floor houses the Home office overlooking the brass lotus water body and a green wall that meets a skylight. The formal living is placed right there, with a beautiful entrance of 2 symmetric doors adorning contemporary gold brushed metal work enveloping glass. A passage leads to the family room, overlooking the court through sliding and foldable doors making the space open. Next on the ground floor is the dining room and the hobby room, and the passage leads to 2 master bedrooms and finally the mandir standing at the end.
The formal living and the family room are distinctly different in their design characteristics.
In the formal living, the wooden clad sloping ceiling gives an expansive look and a sense of spaciousness, as far as ceiling space is concerned, while being accompanied with floor to lintel windows that open up into the court.
Geometry is the language of expression in this space. The centred accent TV wall especially interesting – a victorian stone arch complimented by the 2 classic yet modern doors. While the furniture offers a contemporary aesthetic, the decor leans more toward a blend between urban classic and modern rustic. The huge Industrial chandeliers have a huge effect on the overall attitude of the room. The acrylic cast chairs add a eye catching factor, yet are relatively subdued and blend in.
In the family room, Find a myriad of tasteful and modern touches teamed up with contemporary furniture that’s made only for the bold and highly confident. The customised metal screens at the entrance, the colour coordinated modern art, a luxe rug laid out to perfection, precise wooden contraband ceiling and a plain white ceiling, precious metallic elements, deluxe home lighting solutions, and bespoke light installations make up this space.
A courtyard – esque space in the middle of each of the house’s three major common areas makes for a common area for members of the family to interact. The incorporation of nature –from greenery and foliage to using waterbodies throughout, the interweaving of nature and modernity, reflects the lifestyle of the family.
The dining room is an organically extends through the gold metal screens, featuring a luxurious statuario marble top table and minimalistic leather chairs. The edgy chandelier with roughly cut crystals compliments the rustic cotton steel wall mural. A special element of this space, is the curtains, which is just a series of thin metal chains running all along the length of the room to maintain the transparency by overlooking to the court. The composition of the metal mirror art piece with the brown orange marble on which rests the basin is an iconic design feature of this space.
In the hobby room, a play of colours and shapes is witnessed so as to serve the purpose of the space. Two beanbag styled yellow and orange chairs with a rug complimenting below, coupled with customised curtains with a colour co-ordinated cross stitch in the middle gives this space a playful character. A very unique blend of materials and forms has been used in this space, hexagons in statuario which flow into stripped wooden flooring, which makes the space even more eclectic and artistic.
The Mandir, the most peaceful space of the home boasts a double height ceiling with a long chandelier over it, and the marble wall which lights up the circular portions of pattern on it.
Fact File-
Project Name-E-85 The Bangur House
Location: Vasant Vihar, Delhi
Name of Architect- Mr. Santosh Baheti
Build area-15000 sq ft
Year of completion-2019
Client Name- Shree Cement
