The House Of Pink Marble

With pink Makrana marble finishes, charcoal floors alongside an abiding spirit of zen, this brooding Navi Mumbai apartment by SML Architects is nothing like its neighbours

- VAISHNAVI NAYEL TALAWADEKAR

When Mahek Lalan first stepped inside the 1,500 sq ft duplex apartment that was to be his next project, he was enchanted by its double-height volumes, semi hexagonal bedroom balconies and abundance of sunlight. “It almost didn’t feel real,” recalls the Founder and Principal of Mumbai-based SML Architects about the top-floor apartment with three bedrooms in Navi Mumbai’s Belapur. Its architecture, executed in the late 1990s, was a departure from the Maximum City’s matchbox-sized spaces. And for the architect, it was an opportunity to rewrite the (design) rulebook.

Though there were upsides, the interior — composed of a living room, a kitchen and three bedrooms — was dated, and the layout lopsided. Mahek recognised that the architectural equilibrium could only be achieved by way of structural changes. What followed was an exercise in additions and subtractions: redundant walls were knocked off and layouts were optimised. In a bid to invite natural light and cross-ventilation, Mahek pulled down the original concrete staircase, replacing it with a light and open metal stairway that lets light through.