Romancing The Colonial

Colonial, British architectural bungalows with Indian tinge told the sad story of aging and decaying on the first visit. To the casual eye, it was nothing but the quaint and quite old, colonial roof topped bungalow with wooden louvered windows, slender pillars, wrought iron railings and elegant arches; underneath was termite affected aging wood, causing worry. Client was keen on restoration and the diligent efforts/passionate affair began…Brief was to create ‘Weekend House’ for the family without disturbing the original structures. One main bungalow and the other relatively smaller, pose the challenge of bringing them alive… With little extension work, main structure became living with three bed rooms, and a family bath area with Spa. The smaller one accommodated home theatre, card room and kitchen with dinning area.The layers of paint in the compact living area were peeled to the richness of original wood of door shutter, wooden stairs and all the other wooden parts. Adjacent to the living was the kid’s room where a platform with wooden parquet tile was created to play and a sofa-cum bed added to it just did the needful!

Main bed room upstairs had wooden flooring at its worst and pyramid roof above had a severe leakage problem. All the louvered window and doors were restored and damaged parts were replaced to its old glory! The bed room has a terrace on both the sides and is partially covered with wooden pergola.

Ceiling of the home theater area had raw sized and shaped wooden members which we retained and set chip board panels and glass wool just behind it for an acoustical purpose. Small niches to accommodate ‘divas’, traditional cow-dung ‘lipan’ work gave an edge to traditional look simultaneously working as an acoustic surface.

Modern amenities and other facilities were blended into the bungalow while ,t giving meticulous attention to restoring the decorative details to tell the-‘ stories of the glorious past. The project demonstrated a balanced approach between the refined master of conservation techniques and the support of crafts skills.

After the conservation efforts, the look is stunning! It is no longer faded, old and musty… bungalow wanting attention… it has been rejuvenated to welcome the modem ‘you’ with grace and pride…