Castle and Sun

Project Name: Castle and Sun, Residential Interior
Completion Year: 2021
Area (m2/ ft2): 1400 ft2
Project Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Office Name: Studio 4000
Office Website: www.studio4000.in
Architects: Khushboo Vyas, Smit Vyas
Social Media Accounts: Instagram: @studio4000designs
Facebook: Studio 4000
Contact email: workwithstudio4000@gmail.com
Firm Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Photo Credits: Rahul Zota

CASTLE AND SUN

The design for this eleventh storey apartment in western Ahmedabad explores concepts which creatively reimagine the making of an urban home.

In plan, the apartment is reorganized by removing partitions that divide the dining space and a bedroom to create an extended, interconnected living area. Within this, furniture, platforms, shelving, etc. along with the family’s collection of wooden handicrafts- which included an antique wooden column- are used to make for a loose-fit arrangement of activity zones which flow into each other. Devices like sliding panels or openings in partition walls between the kitchen and the living and so on compliment the new plan organization. Where possible, objects of art are carefully integrated into these situations.

An additional ground which consists of a layer of cast-in-situ terrazzo, is superimposed upon the apartment’s floor which folds up into seats, low platforms and built-in furniture. This superimposed mass thickens the floor plane into a substantial base, creates possibilities for conceptually liberating the apartment from the repetitional logic of the block and anchor familial life into itself with dignity.

Most built-in furniture is crafted with terrazzo and teakwood panels, the remaining, standalone items are made with a range of different materials. For tables, CRC metal sections are finished in PVD coating with natural stone placed on top. Single sofa and dining chairs are made with salvaged teakwood. Use of polychromy in the bedrooms offers a contrast to the largely white painted living areas and adds another dimension to the variety and layering of experiences.