Ways of seeing

Abhimanyu Dalal collaborates with Amrita Guha and Joya Nandurdikar to design an artistic home

08 May 2024

From the bustling streets of Delhi to the serene embrace of the Jahanpanah Forest, Abhimanyu Dalal in collaboration with Amrita Guha and Joya Nandurdikar of Untitled Design Consultants craft a home that finds itself in a dialogue of art within an architectural marvel.

On a busy street in Delhi amidst the cacophony of traffic, people and urban living, is a home that takes you as far as you can get from the city. The house, flanked by residences on either side, is located on a narrow piece of land that Abhimanyu Dalal, the principal architect on the project, describes as a “stimulating challenge.”

Wrapped in reclaimed teak wood and crowned with a Red Dot awarded light, Filamento by Mayice Studio from Rossana Orlandi, the dining room features bespoke fluted brass and wood doors that are suspended on a pivot opening onto an adjacent plating area. All the furniture is by Alsorg; Photography by Ashish Sahi

The home is a series of beautiful surprises from the get-go: It’s many homes in one house, an ingenious play of solids and voids with the play of light and shadow painting its spaces in myriad shades from sunrise to sunset. And in between this busy road and the Jahanpanah Forest, the home unfolds like a series of surprises, with interiors curated and crafted from across the country by Amrita Guha and Joya Nandurdikar of Untitled Design Consultants.

On the second level, the staircase lends itself as a vantage point to the family lounge with the sofa by Alsorg, a Mahendra Doshi brass chair and the Dreamers, a coffee table by Mogg. The artwork on the walls is by Lalu Prasad and the rug is from Jaipur Rugs; Photography by Ashish Sahi

The art curations, bespoke details and their eye for nuances make this home a delightful discovery. Encompassing 33,000 sq ft and occupying five floors, the stunning home is designed for a close-knit family of a couple and their adult sons.

While the home faces a bustling road, it also has the Jahanpanah Forest in its backyard and manages to utilise both to its advantage. The public spaces are positioned towards the front while personal spaces face the rear, overlooking the forest. Keeping in mind these uses, the linearity is split into varying volumes with a play of heights, length and massing.

Lightbox with a basin, counter and mirror, all by Vikram Goyal (Viya Home); Photography by Ashish Sahi

The front portion of the house accommodates, on different floors, an entertainment den, a living and dining room, family room, library, gym and hobby room. “These are all interconnected spaces, horizontally and vertically, designed to create a sense of space on a narrow plot,” explains Mr Dalal. And in these free-flowing spaces is where the magic happens.

Architectural ingenuity is layered by Amrita and Joya’s keen attention to detail and meticulous approach to interior design. The entry into the home is itself a surprise. It’s not exactly a lobby but a bridge that overlooks an entertainment den below with an atrium on the left spanning three floors.

The family room’s defining feature is perhaps the sloping wall finished in Oikos Paint. A niche that gradually appears and disappears into the same wall, is a detail by Amrita Guha and Joya Nandurdikar. All furniture is by Alsorg atop a rug by Jaipur Rugs. Flanking the terracotta wall is a corridor leading to the chai-bar and the master bedroom; Photography by Ashish Sahi

beckoning you to look up; Clad in natural split granite with etched Shlokas

Placed here to great effect is Ankon Mitra’s origami installation in collaboration with Venkat Shyam, the renowned Gond artist. This is followed by chilli sculptures by Subodh Kerkar. “I think I fell in love with the bridge,” enthuses Amrita. The placement of the bridge offers a glimpse into the spaces above and below, and you immediately feel as if you are entering a home and not just a lobby.

a bronze wall; Photography by Ashish Sahi

It sets the tone for the house with its honed black granite floors and the art. It is a great setting for the Ganesha idol by Narayan Sinha. “The art in this house has been placed very strategically. You begin to notice things from different angles, in different ways,” says Joya.At the heart of the home and almost like its spine is the staircase — a complex structure that is anchored to a column, its steps cantilevered to be freely suspended on the sides.

It offers the user an unhindered view of one side of the home all the way to the top, allowing in light. On the other side, on each level, the volumes are staggered to not only fit multiple functions but also to allow a play of heights. Each floor is different from the last, revealing a new surprise, leaving you surprised and delighted in equal parts.

In the entertainment den, the bar by Scarlet Splendour is crowned by Ankon Mitra’s folded origami artwork made in collaboration with Gond artist Venkat Shyam followed by a glimpse of the red chilli sculpture by Subodh Kerkar. This atrium housing the artworks spans levels — the basement, lobby and living room floors. On the left is a column clad with a sculptural artwork by M. Pravat; Photography by Ashish Sahi

The first floor encompasses a living room separated by a staircase from the mandir, dining area and the guest room, all in a row but each looks very different from the other because of its ceiling height and materiality. The living room features a double-heighted sloping profile, crafted to comply with city by-laws governing heights and offsets as well as to frame a tree on the main road. The mandir is clad in natural split granite with etched Shlokas and a 100-year-old Palitana artwork.

Encased in reclaimed teak wood and crowned by a Red Dot awarded light from Rossana Orlandi, designed by Mayice Studio called Filamento is the dining room, flanked by a set of bespoke doors that are crafted in fluted brass and wood. They are suspended on a pivot and open fully, leading to the plating area. At the far end is the guest room and the corridor leading to it feels cosier because of wood panelling and lower ceiling heights. The bedroom is a quiet and meditative space, with its end-to-end windows overlooking the Jahanpanah Forest.

In the entertainment den is a totem sculpture by Vineet Kacker against a bronze wall; Photography by Ashish Sahi

In the master bedroom, the artwork atop the table is by Kaushlendra Pratap Singh, and on the wall against the headboard is an artwork by Niyeti Chadha Kannal, both from Art Incept. The lamps are Tato by Lightbox and all furniture is by Alsorg; Photography by Ashish Sahi

“The art in this house has been placed very strategically and it has extended the sort of the moving eye as I said of the house. You begin to notice things from different angles, in different ways,”– Joya Nandurdikar.

This gradual change of scale is common across all the floors, albeit treated differently on each floor. For instance, on the second level is the family lounge where the staircase becomes a vantage point. It is followed by the chai-bar leading to the master bedroom.

A majestic Bocci light by Lightbox crowns the magnificent living room with a gold leafed ceiling finished in an Asian Paints texture. At the far end are sculptures (three monkey faces) called Primates by Elena Salmistraro from Rossana Orlandi flanked by a Paresh Maity artwork on the wall. The sofa is by Poliform while the chairs are from Minotti, all underlined by a Jaipur Rugs find. A Foscarini light sits against the sheers by Shades of India; Photography by Ashish Sahi

Yet again, the volumes become more intimate as you move inward, with a view of the forest revealing itself in the bedroom. On the other side of the family lounge is a spiral staircase which connects to the library and gym above. The upper floors house the living areas designated for the two sons, featuring individual bedrooms on each level.

On the highest level, the terrace hosts a swimming pool that offers an expansive view, stretching from Jahanpanah to Faridabad.“I believe that a home can be many things simultaneously. In this house, the experiential quality changes, from the public to the private spaces. When you are in the public areas you are invariably looking around, exemplifying the moving eye concept. But in the bedrooms it all changes, you encounter spaces that are calmer and more focused,” explains Mr Dalal. He continues, “A house should be used throughout. And in multiple ways.” This home facilitates this philosophy wonderfully well.

The son’s bathroom with fixtures from Grohe overlooks the Jahanpanah Forest; Photography by Ashish Sahi

You can read a book on the spiral staircase, eat dinner on the terrace, have a cup of tea at the chai bar or enjoy the soothing rhythm of the swing in the family room. In this home, designed by Abhimanyu Dalal in collaboration with interior designers Amrita Guha and Joya Nandurdikar, art enhances and informs the experience of architecture, creating multiple sensory experiences. It showcases the genius of great architecture layered with Amrita and Joya’s keen eye for detail.