SANCTUARY OF SPACES

In Lutyen's Delhi, architect Apoorva Shroff anchors a modern home around an olive tree as she reimagines the space for the evolving needs of a growing family

- TEXT BY DEEPALI DHINGRA PHOTOGRAPHY BY AVESH GAUR

The canopy of green seems never-ending, as the smooth road twists and curves, bringing me to the doorstep of a home where countless memories have been made and laughter shared in abundance. The black metal gate with geometric motifs glides open — the same pattern continues across the floor leading to the main door of the villa. I feel a whiff of a memory but the details elude me — where have I seen this pattern before? Apoorva Shroff puts my mind at rest, "I had visited the Taj Mahal a few years ago and was influenced by the geometric pattern on the floor. It's amazing where one finds inspiration — even in buildings dating back hundreds of years ago," says the Principal and Founder of Mumbai-based lyth Design. It is perhaps poetic justice that a detail from Mughal architecture would find its way in the heart of a charming 4,000 sq ft home in Lutyen’s Delhi.

Apoorva invites me to come in through the main door with an unmissable circular metal handle — a recurrent design, as I was to discover later in other parts of the house. “I don’t like doing too many different things in a small space. The recall value of striking details is immense and when you subtly repeat it, the mind subconsciously declutters,” explains Apoorva. A blank canvas, this was not. A blank canvas, this was not. When the couple residing here reached out to Apoorva, their brief required her to reimagine the home for the evolving needs of a growing family.