Designed by Anjali Lovekar, the project is the renovation of a 30-year-old row house in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. The existing structure was dark and dingy and looked unwelcoming.
The long and narrow dimensions of the home 41 ft by 17 ft and 4 ft being taken away by the staircase - required to be balanced. The home had changed owners over the years and the recent owner was a young couple who needed a bright, young, well-lit environment - full of life and enthusiasm.
The Interior of the House
The narrow dimensions led to a linear layout of living and dining areas. The interiors were opened up by removing unnecessary walls, designing light seating and using elements that connected the entire space.
Landscape Area Half-Covered With Wooden Slats
The unsightly central duct area underwent a transformation to emerge as a compact double height court. A flowering frangipani tree was placed in the courtyard with a ledge for seating around it.
The landscape area which is semi-covered with wooden slats connects with the scale of the living room, thus extending it into space beyond.
Seating, Plants, Artefacts and a Buddha statue
The terrace was required to act as a semi-outdoor party area. A section of the terrace was tiled, while the platform area was covered with a sloping roof of Mangalore tiles.
Seating, plants, artefacts and a Buddha statue were placed here to make it a quiet spot to relax.
Project Details:
Project: Rai House
Location:Vashi, Navi Mumbai
Area (inclusive of landscape): 3400 Sq ft
About Anjali Lovekar:
With a belief that every project has to be master-minded carefully taking into account the client brief, fidelity to site conditions & the time & economic frame for the same, Anjali Lovekar co-founded Lovekar Design Associates in 1993 in Pune, with the fellow batch mate from architecture school and husband Ashwin Lovekar. The lady graduated from the prestigious Sir. J.J.College of Architecture, Mumbai, with flying colours and worked with reputed architectural firms before starting her entrepreneurial journey.
Over the 25 years of practice, Anjali Lovekar has worked in major cities in India such as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nadiad, Haridwar and many more.
She has shared her design journey with many academic institutes and professional institutes such as IIID and IIA and has given presentations across India for the organisations. One of her favourite academic pursuits is to mentor young students and guide them by holding informal workshops and talks in academic institutions.
She was awarded the I-Gen Award in 2014 ‘Pride Of Pune’ citation by Ishanya Stree Shakti Foundation in March 2017.