Designed by Meister Varma Architects, Identiti is an advertising and branding agency run by a father-sons trio who wished to consolidate their home and office in different parts of the city into a spacious live-work unit. By the time we were approached, a building had been purchased for this purpose on a relatively compact 270 sqm site. The existing structure was an archetype of a build to rent style prevalent throughout Kerala with low daylight and even lesser character. Cramped room sizes resulting from a half-baked interpretation of Vastu (traditional Indian system of architecture) made matters worse.
Photography: Vishnu Raj
The renovation had to be dramatic to match its energetic occupants. The building was to cater for an office of 20 employees in addition to an expanding joint family. It also needed a look distinct from its neighbors hinting at its mixed-use avatar. We began with an inside-out approach carving out the interior to match the space requirements of each floor. The largely column-free office on the ground floor proceeding to the parents? apartment on the first (with a traditional closed kitchen and utility terrace) and finally onto the sons? open plan apartment on the second. Ferrous oxide walls feature as prominent elements on each floor with built-in lighting features. A cement lattice to the east gives visual privacy from close neighbors and filters light to the living spaces. In addition to the walls, a portion of the second-floor slab was also demolis...