STUDIO UF+O COMPLETES OAK HOME – A QUIET RETREAT IN MUMBAI FULL OF CUSTOM OBJECTS AND FURNITURE PIECES MADE ON SITE
In suburban Mumbai, the architecture and object design studio STUDIO UF+O completed Oak Home, an apartment for a family of 4. The project borrows its name from the oak wood that is the focal point of the materials used along with subtle finishing tones. In the fast-paced city of Mumbai, the studio managed to create a space of tranquility with a muted color palette highlighting the essence of the oak and white marble. The 4 bedroom, 230 sq m apartment in suburban Mumbai, is designed for a family of working professionals. The clients desired the home to be a quiet space to retreat to at the end of a hectic day, visually removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. This conceptually prompted STUDIO UF+O to work with limited materials and follow clean minimal lines of design.
While the spacious living and dining room invites the family and visitors to spend time together, all other rooms offer possibilities for individual contemplation. Every uniquely designed bedroom and the home office are connected to an individual bathroom, allowing for comfort and privacy.
DESIGNED AS A QUIET PLACE
The main feature of Oak Home lies in the combination of warm toned oak with cool tones of marble. The color scheme is prominent in the furniture and objects as well as the floors, walls and ceilings. This visual experience is framed by few outlines of dark aluminum and subtle highlights of brass.
With Oak Home, STUDIO UF+O wanted to create an aesthetic of “quiet luxury” with the heavy regional stone material and wood being turned into something lightweight and discreet. Contrary to common Indian aesthetics that often results from layering accents and accessories, STUDIO UF+O’s approach became to edit out absolutely everything that was not essential to the space and requirement of living. Oak Home’s refined selection of materials follows the required functionality devoid of unnecessary embellishments. With the elegance of a muted color scheme and minimalistic design, Oak Home thus attempts to retreat from the fast movements, vibrant colors and loud sounds that constitute everyday life in Mumbai.
INTERIOR DESIGNS MADE ON SITE WITH REGIONAL MATERIAL
As characteristic of STUDIO UF+O’s work, all of Oak Home’s interior design pieces are custom- made on site with regional material and local craftsmen – from floors, frames and paneling to tables, chairs and even decor items. The elegant finish of the designs proves the architects’ ability to elevate regional material and crafts to an innovational form. “Some of our sculptural objects follow a back and forth process of making involving lively discussions with our craftsmen, while they have run their workshops for generations they often have never seen a request like ours before but then again they know best how to process their material. So there is a constant feedback during the fabrication and growth in shared knowledge of making between our formal education and their informal experience”, says Vineet Vora, founder of STUDIO UF+O. The name giving oak wood, which appears in the furniture, as well as the doors, bedroom floors and walls, bears a particularly flowing grain that matches the futuristic shapes of the other designs.
Additionally, the apartment is punctuated by functional sculptures from the series +Objects, designed by STUDIO UF+O as a material exploration exercise in solid stone. Particularly eyecatching are the side tables that were carved out of single blocks of marble, creating elegantly curved shapes with a pale, almost glassy finish. For this, the Studio used Banswara and Makrana Marble, two different types of uniquely patterned white marbles, both originating from Rajasthan, India. In Oak home STUDIO UF+O plays with different repetitive forms and colors, intertwining diverse elements with each other to create a feel of peace and unity – just like essential family values.
WORKING WITH SPECIAL REGULATIONS
When planning Oak Home, STUDIO UF+O were working under the restrictions of the ancient Indian Vastu principles of building, that address a mindful and healthy living situation for the owners. As common in Indian architecture, they were given clear instructions – for example, where which room should be located and which direction the beds should be oriented in. Within these boundaries they managed to design Oak Home in a way that is bringing together tradition and innovation, respecting spiritual, contextual and functional conditions. “In this case we were very lucky that the Vastu rules for room positions in plan matched how we intended the daylight to move through the day in the house.”, says Prachi Parekh Vora, founder of STUDIO UF+O. Oak Home is a striking example of STUDIO UF+O’s approach: It is on one hand fulfilling the cultural instructions and rules and on the other hand it shows their own creative and ecological perspective.
Team:
Architecture & furniture: Studio Urban Form + Objects
Structural Engineers: Studio Urban Form + Objects
Mechanical Engineers: Studio Urban Form + Objects
Carpentry: Ramjee Bhai Jangid
Masonry works: Kishankumar Kumbhavat
Photography: Suleiman Merchant
