This home in Vadodara melds modernity and Indian touches

Local Dots skilfully weave carved wooden elements into a contemporary narrative in this gated community residence.

Curated by: Rupali Sebastian
Photographs: Darshan Dave; courtesy Local Dots

The brief and the response

Aavas is a newly-built residence within a gated community located in Vadodara’s city centre. Home to three generations, it had to — as per the client’s brief — bring together modernity with an Indian touch. “In the course of our conversations with the homeowners,” reveals Sushma Vanjani, principal architect, Local Dots, “we observed that the family spends the majority of their time at home. Hence, the design pivoted around making the narrative functional and purpose-driven. In a way, we wanted the layout to be handy and fuss-free.”

The design intent

In order to infuse a gentle dynamism into the visual expression, the architect consciously designed furniture that followed curves rather than being rigid with simple lines. The colour palette, too, was chosen to be different in every bedroom to give a fresh outlook to every space.

The spatial configuration

To broadly describe the home, it has one bedroom with common spaces on the ground floor; two bedrooms (master and kid’s) on the first and a suite cum home theatre on the second.

As we enter the premises, the foyer greets you with its warm, chic tones. A cluster of brass decor accents on the vertically aligned wooden slices helps in creating an eclectic look. The TV partition is the highlight of the living room. The hollow cuts in the panel cast a beautiful play of shadow and light inside the pooja room behind when the sunlight filters through it. The bedrooms have been designed keeping in mind the occupant’s requirements and wishes. Fresh colours are paired with delicate fabric where the user wanted a light-hearted atmosphere, while wooden tones have been for a more mature-looking ambience. In the bathrooms, trendy shapes and patterns were brought into play to give each one a sense of modish design. Overall, there is more emphasis on the pastel palette paired with shades of brown used as polish on wood. “It becomes extremely challenging to design a home where every member desires something quite personalised and in contrast with the other members of the family. We had to design each portion with utmost care to make sure the overall look was in perfect sync,” says the architect.

The highlights

At Aavas, surfaces became canvases to explore vibrant colours, bold motifs and patterns, and furniture was instrumental in pulling together a look that was classy, charming yet modern in its trimmings and form. Her favourite, says Sushma, is the wall feature in the pooja room which features delicately carved wood giving a pixelated effect. “All in all, the home celebrates a confluence of colours and lends a timeless and traditional quality to the space,” concludes the architect.