Completed Project

The Panelled House

A large family home worked in moulded wall panelling and marble, where the formal rooms are kept deliberately quiet and every bedroom gets one idea of its own.

The Design Story

The organising decision in this house is that the shared rooms are calm and the private rooms are not.

The formal hall is finished almost entirely in applied moulding — rectangular panels in a soft off-white, running the full height of the walls and continuing around door openings so the joinery lines never collide with the architecture. The floor is a large-format marble laid with minimal grout. There is very little else in the room by design: a crockery unit with a mirrored back and glass shutters at one end, a slim partition carrying trophies and framed pieces at the other, and a plain cove holding a single concealed line around the perimeter. It is a room built to be filled with people rather than with furniture.

Arrival is handled by one piece of joinery. The entrance is a pair of carved timber leaves inset with brass grille work, set against a marble return with a low black slatted bench for shoes — the moment where the house states its material palette before you have taken a step into it.

The living room, by contrast, is warm. Vertical timber battens frame a marble feature wall carrying an inlaid metal medallion, and a deep sectional in a mid-brown fabric faces a television panel set into fluted timber. The ceiling steps once and holds a warm concealed line rather than a bright general light.

The mandir is given a wall of its own rather than a corner: a carved white marble arch, backlit so the fretwork glows, with a run of drawers below to keep the everyday paraphernalia of daily puja out of sight.

Upstairs, each bedroom is allowed one idea. One takes a full wall of high-gloss shutters with rose-gold inlay lines; another an upholstered headboard against textured wallpaper; another a wall of timber battens cut into a large geometric pattern; another a recessed headboard with LED behind it. The wardrobes are gloss laminate throughout so that the bedrooms stay bright, with the grooves and inlay lines doing the work that a change of material would otherwise have to do.

The kitchens are handled as working rooms rather than display pieces — two-tone gloss cabinetry, granite counters carried through to a breakfast bar, hexagonal tile behind the hob, and tall storage taking the appliances off the counter.

01 — Arrival

One piece of joinery does the introduction: carved timber leaves inset with brass grille work, a marble return, and a low slatted bench for shoes. The palette of the whole house is stated before you have stepped inside it.

Entrance lobby with carved timber double doors inset with brass grille work against a marble wall — The entrance states the palette

02 — Living

The warm room in a cool house. Vertical timber battens frame a marble feature wall with an inlaid medallion, and the television sits in a panel of fluted timber. The ceiling steps once and carries a warm concealed line rather than a bright general fitting.

Living room with timber batten panelling, a marble feature wall with an inlaid medallion and a sectional sofa — Battens framing the marble

Marble television wall with fluted timber panelling and concealed cove lighting — The television set into fluted timber

Living room with a recessed cove ceiling above large-format marble flooring — One step in the ceiling, one line of light

03 — The Panelled Hall

Applied moulding runs full height and continues around every opening, so the joinery lines never collide with the architecture. The room is deliberately underfurnished: a crockery unit at one end, a display partition at the other, and a single concealed line around the perimeter.

Formal hall with full-height moulded wall panelling, a curtained window and large-format marble flooring — Panelling carried around the openings

Formal hall with a built-in crockery unit set within moulded wall panelling — The crockery unit at the far end

04 — Display

Two pieces carry everything the hall needs to show. The crockery unit is backed in mirror behind glass shutters so the contents are lit from both sides; the partition holds trophies and framed pieces without closing the room off from the passage behind it.

Crockery unit with a mirrored back and glass shutters, lit from within — Mirror behind glass, lit from both sides

Display partition with trophy shelving dividing the hall from the passage — A partition that divides without closing

05 — The Mandir

Given a wall rather than a corner. The carved white marble arch is backlit so the fretwork glows against the wall behind it, and a run of drawers below keeps the everyday paraphernalia of daily puja out of sight.

Pooja room with a carved white marble arch backlit above a run of storage drawers — Backlit fretwork, storage below

06 — One Idea per Bedroom

The wardrobes stay in a single gloss palette across the whole floor so the rooms remain bright. What changes is the one gesture each room is allowed — rose-gold inlay lines here, an upholstered headboard against textured wallpaper there.

Bedroom with high-gloss wardrobes carrying rose-gold inlay lines and a television panel — Inlay lines instead of a second material

Bedroom with an upholstered tufted headboard against textured wallpaper — Upholstery against texture

Bedroom with a full wall of gloss wardrobes and an integrated dressing unit — Dressing unit built into the run

Bedroom gloss wardrobes with a dressing table and mirror set into the joinery — The mirror set into the joinery, not hung on it

07 — Geometry and Light

Two further rooms take the idea further: a wall of timber battens cut into a large geometric pattern, and a headboard recessed into the wall with LED concealed behind its edge so the bed appears to float away from the plaster.

Bedroom with a timber batten feature wall cut into a large geometric pattern — Battens cut to a pattern

Bedroom with a headboard recessed into the wall and concealed LED behind its edge — LED concealed behind the headboard edge

Bedroom with gloss wardrobes beside a timber batten feature wall — Gloss against batten, in one room

Bedroom wardrobe in brown gloss with a chevron pattern across the shutters — A pattern that crosses the door joints

08 — Wardrobes and Study

Where a bedroom doubles as a workspace, the desk returns off the wardrobe carcass rather than standing separately, and the grooves in the shutters are set out to line through with the shelving above the desk.

Bedroom with grey gloss wardrobes cut with geometric grooves and a study desk returning off the carcass — The desk returns off the wardrobe

Full wall of white gloss wardrobe shutters with fine brass inlay lines — Brass lines across a plain gloss wall

Bedroom study and television unit set against a fluted panel above a marble floor — Desk and media unit as one piece

Geometric groove detail across a wardrobe wall, with the study return alongside — Grooves set out to line through with the shelf

09 — Where the Bed Goes

Across the house the bed is placed against the one wall that has no door and no window in it, and the room is then built outward from that decision — desk on the daylight side, wardrobes on the corridor side. It sounds obvious and it is the single most common thing to get wrong in an Indian bedroom, where the bed usually ends up facing the entry.

Bedroom with a lit headboard recess and a study desk on the daylight side — Desk on the daylight side

Bedroom with full-height wardrobes along the corridor wall and a study desk with a task chair — Wardrobes on the corridor side

Bedroom with an upholstered tufted headboard against gold textured wall panelling — The wall with no door and no window

10 — The Bathroom

Pulled out to a counter rather than shut inside a cubicle: a vessel basin on a timber-fronted vanity, with the mirror backlit so the light falls on the face from in front rather than from a ceiling fitting behind it.

Bathroom vanity with a vessel basin, timber-fronted cabinet and a backlit mirror — Light from in front of the face, not above it

11 — The Kitchen

Working rooms, not display pieces. Two-tone gloss cabinetry, a granite counter carried through into a breakfast bar so the same slab does both jobs, hexagonal tile behind the hob, and tall storage taking the appliances off the working surface.

U-shaped modular kitchen in grey gloss with a granite counter carried into a breakfast bar — One slab doing both jobs

Modular kitchen with a hexagonal tile backsplash and a dark granite counter — Hexagonal tile behind the hob

Every Frame

The rest of the record.

Alternate angles, joinery documentation and the service areas — the parts of a project that rarely make an editorial spread but are just as much a part of the work.

The entrance, wide
The television wall, from the seating
The passage through
The hall, in use
The mandir in its wall
Study and media unit, wide
The desk run, full length
Door onto the passage
A shelf for the things that matter at eight
From the window side
From the corner
The same room, turned
The batten wall, raking
Wardrobe open
Where batten meets shutter
The inlay, straight on
The return corner
Through to the kitchen
Dressing unit off the passage
Gold texture, wide
Chevron, from the bed
The hob run
Tall storage from the passage
Counter and appliances
The utility sink
Counter detail
The washing machine, given a proper place

Design Highlights

The decisions that shaped it.

01Applied moulded panelling carried full height and around openings
02Large-format marble laid with minimal grout lines
03Carved timber entrance leaves inset with brass grille work
04Backlit carved marble mandir arch with concealed storage below
05One distinct idea per bedroom, held to a single gloss wardrobe palette
06Rose-gold and brass inlay lines in place of a change of material
07Granite counters carried through into a breakfast bar
08Concealed cove lighting throughout in place of bright general light

Next Project

The Quiet Apartment

Concept Design

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