A designed first impression

This Mumbai home by SHROFFLEoN is held together by burnt wood, brass and trust

16 Jul 2025

How do you design a deeply personal space for someone you’ve never really met? This was the unusual challenge presented to Kayzad Shroff and Maria IJ Leon of SHROFFLEoN, when they were entrusted with designing this 3,400 sq ft apartment in Mumbai’s Four Seasons Residences. With just one meeting and complete creative freedom from the homeowners, the duo knew they had to craft a space that felt intimate and personal. Designed entirely in the residents’ absence, this apartment unfolds as a retreat from the city’s urban din, subtly expressing the sensibilities of its occupants in the form of muted materials, spatial interventions and carefully curated artefacts.

DEN, IT IS!

The brief, though minimal, involved one clear request: the addition of a den. To accommodate this, “the living room, which originally spanned the entire width of the building, had to be reconfigured,” reveal the principals, who worked alongside Lokendra Vora as a collaborator. This spatial shift also required relocating the master bathroom — a move that presented one of the project’s larger technical challenges. But rather than limiting the design, these constraints prompted a rethinking of the home’s spatial language. The resulting den is a warm nook, lined entirely in ageing copper panels that lend it both a tactile richness and a sense of amiability.

“We set out to create a space of tranquillity, one that is a refuge from the cacophony of the streets of Mumbai” — Kayzad Shroff and Maria IJ Leon

CONSTRAINT TO CHARACTER

Another such challenge took the form of a large column that punctuates the apartment’s façade. Instead of hiding it away, they turn it into a statement, designing a tall, semi-transparent shelving unit that doubles as a room divider. The highlight of said unit? Burnt, wooden floor-to-ceiling panels used by the architects for the very first time. We wanted “one thick, large plank, the height of the room,” they explain. “We managed by having it custom-made, where we could control both the amount of burn as well as the curve at the edge.” With a mix of wood, metal and marble, this piece doesn’t just conceal the column, it gives the home one of its most striking moments.

MUTED EXPRESSION

Materials, though varied, are all muted. “A single Bolivar veneer is used to maintain a continuity throughout the apartment.” Interjecting this uniformity is a unique material in each room — one that adds character and makes every space feel deeply personal. In one of the bedrooms, an oversized, vividly coloured bed-back commands attention, its boldness balancing out the expanses of floor-to-ceiling glass. The flooring in the common spaces, too, reflects these sensibilities: wooden tiles stitched together like carpets occupy the centre of the rooms, bordered by planks and separated by a delicate brass infill.

TRINKETS TELL ALL

However, what ultimately lends the home its deeply personal character are the myriad artefacts thoughtfully scattered throughout the space. These objects speak to the tastes, memories and travels of the homeowners. From a tiny figurine of a man playing a trumpet to an emerald green sculpture of Lord Ganesha, each piece carries its own story. These are not elements that could have been dictated through a design brief; they embody a kind of tacit knowledge — an unspoken layer of personality that emerges only through lived experience. In many ways, this organic layering is what makes the home truly personal, transforming it from a designed space to a personal sanctuary.