德里传统金奈风格住宅（一层改办公室）丨印度丨Envisage Projects

A traditional Chennai-style home in Delhi with a floor converted to an office

Two floors in an old building in Delhi have been designed to accommodate an office as well as a home for the owners by Envisage Projects. Replete with references to South India, the space offers special comfort to the homesick daughter-in-law, who yearned for her native Chennai.

If Rudyard Kipling were to pen a Ballad of North and South, the refrain may well be “never the twain shall meet.” But not in the hands of Meena Murthy Kakkar and Vishal Kakkar of Envisage Projects. When the brief of this family disclosed that their daughter-in-law was homesick for

The clients, a family of lawyers, had decided to use two floors in an old building in Delhi as both office and home. With an area of 2,069 square feet, this residence in Delhi houses four bedrooms.  The “lower ground floor” was to be the

Every aesthetic decision became a palimpsest of sorts. “There is no modern art. That is not the vibe of the house,” says the daughter-in-law. Everything has been sourced from the south, to remind the owners of home. It helped that many of the artefacts had been in the family for a long time. “The panchaloha figurines – a craft with a 5000-year-old history representing the Dashavtara of Vishnu were from the client’s mother in Chennai. “Set against a minimalist concrete backdrop, the intricate sculptures remain the focal point.

In the dining area, leather puppets from

“Interaction in Indian homes veers towards the informal. Consequently, the furniture in this home is easy to rearrange,” says Vishal. A ‘thinne,” a short wall which traditionally defined a threshold in old homes, has been created in the heart of this house. Flanked by pillars, it functions as a bench on which to sit, eat, converse, or simply put your feet up. “Since there was a difference in the level of the flooring, it made even more sense to construct it here,” says Meena. “Together with the sloping roof, these features are part of the typology of a courtyard house in the south.” The bull heads on the wall further the narrative, as do Yali brackets, depicting a mythical creature.

The swing, ever present in traditional south Indian homes, is an old family jhula. The furniture is from Meera Pyarelal’s Temple Town in Thrissur, designed using traditional aesthetics, without alienating contemporary comforts. “Made out of responsibly sourced and recycled Indian teak, there is a continuity in its language,” says Vishal. Some pieces are from Tusker Katha.

In the office at the lower level, the wall murals in the cabin used by the daughter-in-law represent her interests. Filter coffee, which she is partial to, a violin and a Bharatanatyam dancer — a dance form which she practices — all personalise the space for her.

“I wanted a home which offers solace wherever I look. I don’t feel new to this home. Everything is mine.” says the daughter-in-law. And that’s exactly what Meena and Vishal have provided. The culturally rich home meets modern living standards and is uniquely personalised. Making the best of both worlds, yes, the north and south do meet. Quite amicably.