Fact File
Location: Bengaluru
Size: 45 sq m
Principal Designers: Farah Ahmed Mathias, and Dhaval Shellugar
Photographs courtesy: FADD Studio

Boat House by FADD Studio is a unique interior design project located on North Goa’s scenic Chapora River. Available for short-term vacations, the Kerala-style houseboat features a themed spatial composition comprising three bedrooms and a sunset deck that references elements of nature. With a material palette of bamboo and lacquered wood forming an earthy backdrop, the studio fashioned bespoke, coloured furnishings for each room. The common area is wispy with silvers and lavenders (and highlights of blue)—representing wind—while the bedrooms showcase bold and dramatic hues of blue and green for water, orange and red for fire, and brown and green for the earth.

Run by destination management company Sunset Getaway, the houseboat also features amenities like a private massage that can be enjoyed as the boat ambles along the river. Bamboo and wood protect the structure from a range of weather conditions and are low maintenance, but the materiality also posed a challenge for the studio. Paint, wallpaper, and other adhesive-reliant accessories would have been near-impossible to incorporate, so they turned to the coloured fabric as the primary decorative element. The natural colour and weave of the bamboo and wood surfaces served as an earthy backdrop, while pre-existing tones provided the design team with the flexibility to pick saturated or muted colours—resulting in an unbounded creative concept.

Speaking about the themed concept, the designers explained, “The interior was adorned with custom-made duvets, curtains, and dining sets.” The water room’s cool blue duvet was folded to achieve a straight water ripple-like effect and has shams in greens, blues, and yellows. The duvet of the earth room was pleated to give the impression of sand piles, with small green flowers stitched in random patterns. The fire room’s duvet consists of vertical strips of textured red, ochre, and orange fabrics to emulate flame streaks. Finally, the dining set features lavender or grey colours to represent wind and air in the part of the boat that received it the most. Meticulously curated accessories such as lights, bins, lamps, robe hooks, towel rods, and vanity boxes in each room also adhere to the theme. Hand-painted abstract signs instead of standard room numbers are another playful element of the project.