SMRITI 57 >

Juhu Scheme, Mumbai, Maharashtra

Plot Area: 5,400 sq ft

Built-up Area: 10,000 sq ft
Project Timeline: 2013 – 2015
Project Cost: 3,500 per sq ft

Situated in the Mumbai suburb of Juhu, Smriti 57 stands

apart from its neighbouring residences with its audacious

use of voids within the building front to connect the

residents with the neighbourhood.

Built on ancestral land, the residence has come up after

the demolition of a much smaller private dwelling on

the same plot. The current structure accommodates two

multi-level urban apartments for a family with independent

internal circulation, common recreational spaces and

ample parking space provided on the stilt floor. Given the

scant availability of land, the structure sits squarely on the

plot and develops vertically instead.

GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS, MUMBAI

Principal Architect:
Nitin Killawala

Project Team:
Nimit Killawala, Ketan Mistry
3 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 4

Conceptualized as a set of drawers, the western façade of

Above: The western facade conceptualized as a set of
drawers lending an engaging quality to the structure the residence – that fronts the main road with abundant

peltophorum trees – is composed of numerous terraces and

Facing Page: Stacking of terraces achieves the necessary
decks of varying depths, the whimsical spatial recession
shading of internal spaces
introducing an engaging quality to the structure. The

stacking of terraces also achieves the necessary shading of

internal spaces from direct glare, which creates interesting

sciagraphy on the façade.

5 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 6

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

Above & Facing page: The introduction of vertical wooden

slats – be it across the pivoted metal windows on the first
floor, or their daintier counterparts fitted across decks
on the third and the fifth level – allows the ingress of
diffused and filtered light instead.
7 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 8

Top left: Built mass made of aerated concrete blocks on floorplates

constructed of steel decking sheets

Facing page and top right: On the fourth level, an overhanging deck
with prominent red rails becomes the visual focus of the façade, an
intimate space that reaffirms the urban identity of the building.

The built mass of the residence is understated yet bold,

composed of lightweight aerated concrete blocks on

floorplates constructed of steel decking sheets, poured

with concrete. The sizable grooves in the building façade

correspond to the floor levels within, while louvers running

across the service lines on the southern and northern

facades frame the mass.

9 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 10

WEST ELEVATION

Facing page: The corners are articulated by

prominent pre-fabricated steel columns, tied
together by the delicate mesh-like steel railings
that run across the balconies.

Next page: Small cuboidal nooks framed by

coloured concrete peek out of the building façade
from the fourth, fifth and sixth floor, the only
indication of the playful spaces within.
11 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 12
13 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 14

SECTION

Facing page: The interior spaces arranged in an open-floor layout

around central internal staircase

The two multi-level urban apartments are a duplex and a

triplex each; expansive living areas enjoy visual connectivity

between multiple floors, with double height living and bridge

spanning the living areas on the upper floors providing a view

of the spaces below.

15 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 16

SECOND FLOOR PLAN THIRD FLOOR PLAN

17
19 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 20

In contrast to the functional, almost industrial aesthetic The duplex, on the second and third floor, utilizes a
of the building exterior, the residential interiors adopt more neutral colour palette of pastel colours than
a warmer material palette of polished wood and white the triplex on the upper floors, which features ac-
metallic frames. cents in bright primary colours.
21 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 22

FOURTH FLOOR PLAN FIFTH FLOOR PLAN

23 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 24

SIXTH FLOOR PLAN

Facing page: The triplex features accents in bright colors

25 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 26
27 GROUP 7 ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS | 28

Product & Material Applications

Steel (Main Structure) > PSL

Steel (Deck Sheets) > JSW

Windows > Jay Enterprises

Tiles > RAK

Lighting > Gemini Global

Colour > Asian Paints from Bharat Paints

Sanitaryware > Duravit from C Bhogilal

Bath Fittings > Grohe from C Bhogilal

Furniture > Customized

Furnishing > Customized

Carpets & Rugs > Urban Ladder

Hardware > Hettich

Modular Kitchen > Hettich

Kitchen Sink > Nirali

Ply > DCH Plywood

Veneer > DCH Plywood

Laminates > Greenlam

Wooden Flooring > Square Foot

Air Conditioning > Mitsubishi

Key Contributors

Structural Design > Shanghavi Associates

Civil Contractor > Balaji Constructions

MEP Contractors > VR Tulla Associates, Gabriel

Electricals

Photography Credits
The liberal use of pre-fabricated components and metallic With its immense spatial efficiency, rich urban character,
Dinesh Mehta
frames has also served in reducing the time of construction and ambient interior spaces, the residence emerges as a

of the basic shell of the house to a mere four months. prototype of suburban development in saturated cities.