SOUL FROM SPAIN

This Mediterranean-inspired Bengaluru bungalow by Masons Ink proves that elegance can be eco-friendly

- VAISHNAVI NAYEL

Architects Sridevi Changali and Rosie Paul like to believe they can bite off as much as they can chew. But when help comes wagging, they seldom say no as they discovered on their last project, when a neighbourhood streetie joined the team uninvited, turning up daily for site inspections. "He must have been an architect in his past life," quips Sridevi - from somewhere along the Spanish coast, no less. Because while Casa 503 might have been located in Bengaluru, its soul, like its owners', belonged to blue waters and golden shores somewhere across the Atlantic.

Such transatlantic imaginings were well founded: the vision of the owners, husband-and-wife duo Nilma Dileepan and Abhineet B. S., the creative minds behind design studio With Love Nilma and production company Yellow Umbrella.

The couple wanted something Mediterranean - not merely whitewashed walls and arched doorways, but the sense of ease, the fluid indoor-outdoor transitions and that slow, sun-soaked quality of life Mediterranean homes embody. If there was anyone who could summon a bit of Spain, it was Sridevi and Rosie, whose Bengaluru-based studio, Masons Ink, is known for its thoughtful spirit and sustainable architectural approach and now, evidently, also for its ability to conjure faraway lands within four walls and a ceiling.