The Reader’s Room by kaviar:collaborative

The Reader’s Room is the smallest project in our portfolio of ongoing projects currently. Being just 125 sqft in size, it involves the retrofit and revamp of a single bedroom for a young couple residing in Prabhadevi, Mumbai. 

Bright yellow painted walls chipped over time, faded flooring, exposed electrical conduits and a rusty window AC - these were a few things that caught our attention when we first set foot in the bedroom. The bedroom, despite being a standard size, seemed small and cramped. Large bulky chests and storage units were being repurposed as bedside tables and work desks adding on to the clutter. 

As architects, we love to take cues from our clients' personalities and try to reflect that in our designs. Our clients being avid readers and travelers, we took it upon ourselves to weave this into our design scheme. A large ribbon window that flanked one wall of the room and looked over an old healthy tree became our inspiration for a muted color palette involving warm whites, sage greens, and wooden textures. The outside and the inside form a relationship with each other via the ribbon window where the former visually becomes an extension of the latter, hence the viewer/user perceives the volume to be larger. Another important goal of the design scheme is to increase the functionality of the space smartly. Originally the large ribbon window had a cill that protruded into the room and created a vacuum of non-usable space under it. We have reutilised this space to create a multifunctional unit that serves as an open bookshelf, storage unit and a foldable work desk. Bulky storage units are replaced with floating bedside tables adding another layer of airiness to the room.