Moving away from the living-in-a-box concept of the metros, Hardesh and Moncia Chawla of Essentia Environment give a Delhi apartment a calm and peaceful look.

“The clients told us to ‘keep it simple’ and we added ‘keep it comfortable, functional and technically sound’ to it,” say Hardesh and Monica Chawla, Architects and Interior Designers, Essentia Environment, who designed an apartment in the capital that looks over a lush and beautiful community garden. The design is centered on this view. To make the best of it, the designers have punctured the walls and used sandwiched glass with motorized screens to strike a balance between openness and privacy.

Personal claims
The design concept of the roughly 5000 sq ft house revolves around the personality of the client, which is calm and simple. Minimal furniture, liberal use of white, attention to detail, impressive art work and spaces flushed with natural light define the ethos of this house. In an attempt to design a space that serves as a retrat from a busy metropolitan life, the designers have endowed it with simple joys combined with luxury living such as walking barefoot on a white floor, the warm feel of fabric finished wallpapers and expansive viws of the greenery around.

Less is more
The colour palette of the interiors is essentially Zen as all the walls and ceilings are a combination of the light to lighter shades of grey. A selection of black, white and grey stone is used, which is off with handpicked furniture by MisuraEmme, Vittoria Frigerio and Lago sourced form Italy. The Light fixtures are from Portugal. All the four bedrooms have lesser furniture than typical rooms for an uncluttered look. Each bathroom has a huge private balcony. a central familly lounge lies demercated from the formal living room, which is predominantly used to entertain guests.

Material picks
Natural finishes and carefully selected materials accentuate the theme of the decor. The veneer used is sliced form Zanzibar wood and the doors have been imported from Italy.The designers have also made use of raw oak wood. The stones are essentially Swiss white, Statuario and Grigio Venezia. Inlays in light stone add warmth to the floor where carpets could not be used. Door handles have been custom designed and made by Essentia Environments. The puja room is designed with Corian Walls and laser cut doors, which takes a clean break from the usual stone clad places of worship.

The walls are either fabric lookalike wallpapers in washable vinyl or are textured stones by Grigio Venezia. The designers have attempted to create a low maintenance house and the materials have been chosen accordingly.

Customising creativity
While most of the furniture is from Italy, a custom-designed floating study desk in stone for the client’s son is the creation of the designers. Art plays an important role in bringing out the mojo of the house and add colour to the otherwise white and grey dominated space. In the dining area, Scrigraphs of M F Hussain paintings take centrestage along with sculptural lights sourced from brands such as Serip and Vibia. The bathrooms feature Gessi and Laufen fixtures, Ventura textured veneers and deck wood along with frameless Belgian extra clear mirrors and toughened glass.

Making the picturesque view a part of the indoors, the designers have managed to maintain a sense of luxury that coexists with simple living through their immaculate design.

Hardesh and Monica Chawla, Architects and Interior Designers

A selection of black, white and grey stone is used, which is set off with handpiced furniture by MisuraEmme, Vittoria frigerio and lago sourced form Italy. The light fixtures are from Portugal.

Published in:                     CW Interiors              May – 2016