Architect Arjun Malik used a small, neglected space in Mumbai to create a loft that’s chic and functional

Spacecraft

Architect Arjun Malik used a small, neglected space in Mumbai to create a loft that’s chic and functional

 

If the last decade belonged to the multi-bedroom home, with its “half rooms”, much like Fiddler on the Roof’s “staircase going nowhere just for fun”, the young world traveller ushers in the boutique residence—that 400-900 sq. ft chic yet functional footprint—the new edge of small space Indian design.
When Mumbai-based architect Arjun Malik, 32, son of architect K. Malik, was getting married, he decided to convert a 650 sq. ft space in Colaba’s art deco district into a residence for two. He purchased a neglected loft at a throwaway price (“a price reflective of the lack of worth we attribute to old buildings,” Malik says) and began to transform it into an architectural labour of love.
Normally, a long space tends to be broken up into compartments, but Malik decided to celebrate its depth, accentuating it by fragmenting it. “The point is the space remains one visually, while functionally it can be split.” He worked with the old wooden walls, rafters, the height of the room and the original stone structure. The added advantage of an older building is the floor space index (FSI): 30ft of ceiling height that Malik confesses would be impossible in a contemporary apartment.

Play lines: The house built itself around lines of light and wooden walls. Photograph courtesy Arjun Malik

“To begin with, we scraped off all the wood and structurally analysed the space. A lot of the members which were not integral to hold the building up were removed and replaced with glass to get more light in,” Malik says. Being 55ft deep, three-fourths of the home had no access to natural light or ventilation. The space has two levels. At the lower level, the entrance opens into the living room, and to the right is an open kitchen. From the living space, two sets of stairs, held by tension cables, lead to two mezzanine levels: one a study, from which a cantilevered study desk extends beyond the floor footprint, translating its visual connect to the rooms beneath; and at a parallel but disconnected level, a bedroom. A passageway houses the washer and dryer beneath one set of stairs on the right, and on the left, a wall closet runs for 10ft and its end wall also provides storage for the bathroom unit.
“As you can see,” Malik points out, “the handrail (of the stairs) itself is a physical expression of the light that filters in from the skylight above.” The house is built around such plays of light.
Both mezzanines connect visually to each other and the rest of the house. The bedroom overlooks a balcony space on the lower level which is fronted with a large glass window—the only window in the house. Because of the glass, the trees around have the appearance of forming a personal courtyard. The bathroom becomes a glass box within a glass box, and while latticed off with venetian blinds, Malik says it is typically left open, providing the two of them with the sense of bathing outdoors.
The inner sections, like the kitchen and living space, are serviced by recessed mechanical vents, and skylights via a raised roof—one in the east and one in the west. “Throughout the day, I get different patterns of sunlight. The house is not about what is fashionable. It is about geometry, space, air and spirit. It has very clean lines, the patterns of the stairs are reflected in the rafters, and move with the lines of the original walls,” says Malik. The home has more by way of hidden storage recessed into the wooden panelling of the walls than his father’s 3,000 sq. ft flat. “And it’s something my wife thanks me for at least once a week,” says Malik.
In terms of cost, he says, “on average you would need to invest from Rs. 2,000-4,000 per sq. ft.”
In terms of luxury, Malik says: “Luxury is a very subjective term. For me, it is the manipulation, expansion and experience of space. For me, design is not materialistic. It is not about the objects placed in a space, but the play of the space itself.”