What is the concept behind this project?
The house was being designed by Smitha Zacharia of Zachariah x Piers, for a young couple who are very well travelled and were open to experimenting with materials and colours. They wanted to keep the space Indian in its look and feel. Hence, we decided to use brass as a base material combining it with wood, glass, and fabric as per the requirement. We chose Indian patterns and motifs as the elements on upholstery, carpets, and wallpapers.
What kinds of lights have you used?
Most of the lights used are made of traditional materials but contemporary designs. We used chandeliers, drop lights and custom made floor lamps for the space.
What were the things kept in mind while designing this house?
The house was being used by three generations and hence had to do justice to each of their individual tastes and utility. The parents wanted their spaces to be simple, well-lit. Hence the focus was given layering of lights which could be used depending on the function of the space.
We ensured we provided ample light in the bathrooms and also planned to keep the bedsides clear of table lamps to avoid clutter. We added a dove neck reading lamp in addition to the drop lights for extra reading light.
While choosing the lights the architect was very clear that she did not want a single element in the room to grab all the attention, rather her focus was to bring all the elements together harmoniously.
What kind of ambient does the lighting provide?
Fortunately, everyone in the family was okay with using warm light in the entire space. It’s sometimes a challenge when clients ask us to design lighting schemes with multiple colour temperatures as per each one’s preference. Having passed the first challenge we decided that we will divide the space into entertainment and functional space. All entertainment and common spaces were lit with COB LED lights of 2700k colour temp and all the functional spaces like the study, bedrooms and wet kitchen, utility areas were worked with 3000k panel lights to avoid shadows in the space. We also gave the option to create multiple lighting schemes using drop lights, table, and floor lamps. Since the apartment is on two levels we carefully worked our way into dividing the space such that it was easy for one to transition from one zone to another without feeling the difference in the lighting scheme.
