When a rambling house from the late 80s was acquired by our family, it was the steeply sloped property hemmed in by a rubble compound wall, with a groaning mango tree at the back that attracted us. The house itself hadn’t been lived in for long and would require some work to make it habitable again. Some or all of it would have to go, or that was the initial thought. However, renovation and repurposing has its merits, especially when weighed against the wastefulness of tearing down a sound structure to simply accommodate another one.
As a family, our lifestyle is informal and hinges on convenience and ease of living. The formal old house needed to be updated in this respect. Walls and partitions were taken down to make the living areas one contiguous space. An opening was created to bring the mango tree “into” the living space by creating a sit-out under it. To get a contrast in the visual composition and bring in elements of drama and surprise, the foyer was made dark while the rest of the spaces opening off it were kept light and bright with enlarged openings overlooking surrounding greenery.
Existing built-in furniture was repurposed wherever possible and found spots in the renovated and updated house. These multiple layers of the house created over the years hold stories, life and possibilities that only renovation projects make available to the designer. Unlit passageways and drab utility spaces were given a burst of colour and redesigned to accommodate art and books. A bookshelf-lined wall that incorporates older units from elsewhere in the house holds stories, in multiple ways.
An octagonal terrace space on the upper floor was enclosed to create a new room, with a high- tiled roof on a steel frame. Old louvered doors with stained glass panels were put in to frame the greenery, with the sunshade bands that they open on to becoming narrow balconies.
Renovation and repurposing entails a sensitivity towards what was, while updating spaces for changing lifestyles and giving them a new lease of life. It entails an understanding that “outdated” is a relative term, as what is done today will be outdated tomorrow, and it is the timeless elements of composition—alignment, proportion, light, changing views, contrasts, degrees of enclosure that create visually appealing spaces. Frugality, constant editing and paring down to what matters could be, ironically enough, design values that result in true luxury—timeless spaces that respond to lifestyles and are imbued with aesthetics, meaning and purpose.