keep calm, and live on

This luxuriously chic home by FADD Studio in Bengaluru feels like a snug cocoon in all its chocolatey warmth

- PRAGNYA RAO 

as you walk into Shriram Vijayakumar and Keerthi Reddy’s home in Bengaluru, you are enveloped by a feeling of calm from a delicious mix of moody browns and blacks, and curiosity, from an absence of overt decoration. To call it minimalist would be a disservice. The luxury is in its restrain. Farah Ahmed and Dhaval Shellugar of FADD Studio have embraced the drift of slow living with this home. “We wanted our home here to be a retreat from our bustling lives in Singapore, embracing functionality and serenity,” shares Shriram offering a glimpse into their warm cocoon, which like an indulgent dark chocolate reveals its rich flavours, unexpected, with every bite, and in this case, with every room we move into.

“When we first saw the space, it was a typical villament, a duplex property — a very-builder provided, cookie-cutter style space with narrow passages and a very brutalist black staircase,” reveals Farah. Both Farah and Dhaval were keen to steer clear of the textbook idea of luxury. “We were very particular that the language of the home, inside and outside, is harmonious. We wanted the home to belong, not just from the emotional perspective to Shriram and Keerthi but also the interiors to architecture as well,” says Dhaval. The key was to keep it low maintenance since the family didn’t stay here.