Home tour: a Corbusian-inspired family apartment in the historic heart of Ahmedabad, India

Lighting is integrated with equal discretion, tucked behind circular brass plates or within thick suspended channels running across the ceiling to ensure that the materiality of the surfaces is prioritised. At the heart of the drawing room, a hinchko, the traditional Gujarati swing, anchors the space with a touch of domestic nostalgia that flows seamlessly into the modernist home.

The door handles are an unexpectedly unique feature in every room, each carrying its own quiet charge. They are modelled on the silhouette of the iconic windows of Le Corbusier's Notre Dame du Haut, rewarding the most discerning guests who enter the space. Meanwhile, furniture from Tectona Grandis and Studio Works continues the narrative with mid-century modern geometries that feel native to the interior while maintaining contemporary flexibility. 

Another notable space in the home is the corridor, which has been transformed into a refined, well-lit area by Studio Saransh. A brick vault spans its ceiling, recalling the jack arches of Corbusier's Sarabhai House, one of Ahmedabad's most celebrated modernist residences. At the same time, mirrors on either end reflect the curve upon itself, creating the illusion of an endless vaulted tunnel receding into the distance. 

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The master bedroom continues the material language of the drawing room through exposed RCC, brick-clad walls, the horizontal timber channel, and suspended lighting conduits. Still, there is one notable departure: the flooring shifts from Kota stone to timber, creating a warmer atmosphere for unwinding after a long day. To tie everything together, a minimalist four-poster bed captures the restrained, structural character of the modernist furniture tradition.

The secondary bedroom, designed in collaboration with Aditya Ghiya, introduces an altogether different sensibility that Ghiya calls “elegant impermanence.” There is no wardrobe to be found; in its place, a bespoke library unit lines the wall, accompanied by a low console designed specifically to hold a suitcase. 

The bathroom is visually connected to the sleeping area through a large glass opening that replaced a solid wall, allowing light and spatial flexibility to flow between the two. Sliding wooden shutters with operable louvres afford privacy when required, while furnishings by Amolakh employ reclaimed teak with mindful joinery.

A final room in the apartment is the lounge at the end of the corridor, which marks a deliberate departure from everything that precedes it. Conceived as a private retreat for the family, it carries a more rustic, relaxed atmosphere for them to gather over good conversations and hearty meals. 

Cast-in-situ terrazzo flooring by Bharat Floorings lends the space a handcrafted texture that is cool underfoot and visually grounded. Stucco-plastered walls rise uninterrupted to the ceiling, as the horizontal datum lining the rest of the apartment reappears here as a wooden fascia band at lintel level. The skirting is higher than convention dictates, gently curved, and aligned with brick-infused terrazzo that climbs toward the window ledge. “The idea is that when you enter this room, you feel like you've entered the weekend,” enthused Shah.  

“We weren't chasing a style, per se,” Shah reflected. “We were chasing a feeling. And that feeling had to belong to the city.” In this distinctive apartment, elements of the old world are reclaimed through exposed concrete, vaulted brick and the warm grain of reclaimed teak with the quiet authority of something that was always, in some sense, already there.

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