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This Duplex Home in Kolkata is a Sanctuary of Vintage Heirlooms and Classical Elegance

Ajay Arya’s A Square Designs revamps this duplex home with an old-school charm and decadent glory

Shirline Dias Andrades

July 2, 2024

Name of the project: A Classical Home
Location: Alipore, Kolkata
Size of the plot: 3000 sq ft approx.
Date of Completion: 2023
Design Firm: A Square Designs
Principal architects/designers of the firm: Ajay Arya
Photographer: Atul Pratap Chauhan

European vintage motifs meet oriental decor and craftsmanship. This new château depicts a tale of both ancient aesthetics and contemporary style. A duplex home spanning approximately 3000 sq ft, this renovation project in Alipore moves away from Ajay Arya’s usual design style. The studio aims to restructure a classical maximalist abode while revamping the space to retain elements of historical charm. Drawing inspiration from his client’s collections, principal designer Ajay Arya creates a space that exudes timelessness and sophistication.

With an emphasis on vintage heirlooms, the living room illustrates a classical design narrative. Wooden carved furniture and charpoys are surrounded by wooden insets in the ceiling, a chandelier, and a wide-spread rug. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

The dining room invokes a blend of nostalgia and homeliness. Separated from the living room through a glass panelling, the space hosts an eight-seater banquet, complemented by a crystal chandelier as its centrepiece. An heirloom chinaware cabinet reserves its space at the back. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

Details in the dining room reflect the client’s admiration for traditional timepieces. Large windows ring in surplus light and an abstract painting draws colour to the room’s identity. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

As a whole, this luxurious home is rich with carved furniture pieces, decorative ceiling lights and sconces. The carpet-clad walls fetch colourful undertones. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

In the living room, delicate showpieces and Victorian-era inspired antique decor pieces add personality to the home’s grand interiors. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

Albeit meticulous, the designer integrates colonial aesthetics with the casa’s interior schemes. The floorings, walls, and structural changes are redone to match this new decor style. Rejuvenating existing resources, especially heirlooms like colonial furniture carved in teak and rosewood, creates and highlights an ecological narrative for the interiors. Vibrant tapestries and plush carpets usher in a bold burst of hues, much to the client’s preference. The designer’s main challenges were to navigate a fresh outcome while ensuring authenticity, maintaining design principles, and resource upscaling.

Black-gold railings surround the well-lit staircase. A glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling, while the green wall renders a colourful definition. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

Green creepers and expansive windows let immense light filter through. Image credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

The biophilic influences found in the chateau’s interiors manifest a sense of natural warmth and serenity within. An endorser for ecological designs, Ajay Arya swiftly incorporates raw, natural elements that finely juxtapose with the duplex home’s darker decor colours. An abundance of sunlight turns out to be a quiet beneficiary to its occupants. To maximise the perforation of outdoor light, Arya utilises sky-roofs on the ceiling and the house’s enormous windows. A descending rainforest of plants lies adjacent to the marble stairway, catering as an uninterrupted walkway to a private garden.

A golden imprinted vase sits atop a black furniture chest. Asymmetrical carvings and cherub-like installations showcase its minuscule attention to detail. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

Irrespective of its extensive spread, the designer’s vision remains authentic in every cranny of this duplex home. Indo-European design components are found in almost every space in this house. Intricately carved wooden niches paired across modern artefacts create a fascinating tale of contrasting design styles.

The carved headboard and wooden side tables are designed per the duplex home’s theme. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

Pastel furnishings complement the home’s dark wooden panelling and decor. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

Attributes like a printed chair-ottoman set, sheer curtains, and a neutral wallpaper bring in soft touches of colour. Like every other space in this duplex home, the bedroom also flaunts an excess of natural light. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

In the bedroom, the designer opts for more suave-toned tinctures which contrasts with the entire duplex home’s general colour palette. A Square Designs retains the casa’s overall dedication to relaxation inside the bedroom as well and sets this space apart by only slightly tweaking the colour scheme. The pastel hues manifest a sense of calm and serenity, creating an oasis of comfort, and separating it from the city’s hustle-bustle.

The bathspace showcases a blend of contemporary and vintage characteristics. The large frontal mirror is accentuated with a designer tabletop and decorative lights. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

The gridded tile wall is fixated with small mirrors for an illusory effect. The earthy tones of the space attribute a traditional touch to the bath space. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

Even in confined quarters, the designer never fails to execute his core vision’s planning. In congruence with the abode’s artistic identity, A Square Designs incorporates recurring vintage elements in the bathrooms by adding carved deco mirrors, wooden tabletops, and intricate ceiling lights. Whether animal-printed wall pieces or miniature potted plants, tchotchkes of biophilia are found everywhere; lingering even in the bath spaces. An emulsion of ageing decadence seeps through its design.

Architect Ajay Arya of A Square Designs. Image Credit: Atul Pratap Chauhan

Since 1999, Ajay Arya’s design firm A Square Designs has been transforming spaces into urban designs and stunning creations. By escaping the stereotypical realms of architectural norms and reservations, Arya sets out to explore new paradigms in design. Thus bringing this duplex home in Kolkata a mile closer to its vision and delivering a comfortable residence to its inhabitants.