Week 87: Introduction to interior finishes and flooring

Living room and front verandah with black kuddapuh stone flooring, exposed basalt stone and wood, our predominant interior material palette with the natural green outside

Last few months, with majority of the woodwork out of the way, while polishers polish the lovely wood, we have been busy with the various flooring and stone cladding details. This also works with the on-going monsoons that limit our ability to work outdoors.

For our interiors, we wanted to continue with the contemporary tropical style of the house and provide finishes that are earthy, natural while still being streamlined and modern. In synergy with the house's concept of 'reconnecting with nature', the interior finishes are designed to have varying textures that can be seen visually and felt upon touch. We also wanted to have similar finishes indoors and outdoors such that the verandahs and courtyards feel like an extension of the interior rooms. Lastly, since we already have the exposed basalt walls, the wood screens and wood/ glass doors, we wanted to keep the finishes simple. Famous architect Meis van de Rohe said 'Less is more'. We truly believe that it is very easy to over-design, and the real excellence in design is achieved by exercising constraint, when a designer can do just enough to make things close to perfect and not over-embellish in an attempt to be safe. I have to at this point also quote Coco Chanel, who famously said that 'when accessorizing, always take off the last thing that you put on'.

Following this direction, we chose to keep our interior palette simple and limited to natural stone, wood, some metal (brass and steel), exposed cement and white paint. The grey cement and white paint finishes are meant to provide a canvas for the furniture, interior lighting, wall art and other accessories without over-crowding the room with too many elements demanding attention. We also steered clear of using imported stone or tiles as we preferred to use locally available materials that require considerably less energy use in transportation.

View of the living room with black kuddapuh flooring while carpenters polish the screen doors in the space

For flooring in the living room, we have chosen black polished kaddapuh (a widely available local stone) that extends to the living room verandahs, only here the stone is left in rough finish. So visually it looks like the same space but there is slight difference in texture if one choses to walk barefoot.

(A side note about the whole 'walking barefoot' connotation, we have designed Nivim with the thought that the residents would use the space to slow down from the daily city craziness, and allow the space to offer inspiration, calm and happiness…)

The black floor in the living room is dramatic and the smooth polish finish will provide the perfect backdrop for the oversize furniture pieces that this grand space demands.

View of the newly finished grey IPS flooring in the bedroom against the exposed basalt stone and wood

In the bedrooms, each room has one exposed basalt stone wall and two walls with wood screens and glass sliding doors. Hence, we have kept our floors simple with grey IPS in the ground floor bedrooms and yellow in the master bedrooms. The IPS cement floors are earthy that stay cool, require little maintenance and age beautifully overtime. To add a modern edge, we have chosen to inlay brass strips into the floor. These strips criss-cross the rooms in seemingly random directions providing a playful little detail along with the touch of additional luxury through the addition of metallic gold.

Detail of the brass inlay in the IPS cement flooring in bedrooms

The bathrooms are a composition in rough kadapuh, IPS cement, glass and planted exterior courtyards. These require a separate post which will follow soon. Until then enjoy some photos of other jobs being completed on-site. Cheers !

Polishing the living room fixed screens

Hanging the sliding doors in the living room

Rear verandah of the living room

Detail of the old laterite wall from the original structure that has been preserved as a backdrop for the living room and as a homage to the history of the site

Continue reading more updates for the project.