Mane: Revitalizing a Heritage Apartment
We transformed a dark, compartmentalized 1250 sq ft apartment in Basavanagudi into a fluid, light-filled home that echoes the warmth of a traditional Karnataka Mane.
This video showcases the dramatic before-and-after of the Mane apartment renovation. We knocked down walls to create an open-plan living area, replacing dark marble with light grey terrazzo to brighten the entire space.
The new living area is designed for comfort and conversation, featuring custom teak and cane furniture. The design reflects the client's desire for a grounded, warm home reminiscent of their childhood.
A full view of the living room seating arrangement. The furniture, textiles, and artwork were all chosen to create a cohesive, contemporary Indian aesthetic.
A traditional wooden swing with brass chains becomes a central feature of the living space, viewed here from behind the custom sofa. It adds a playful and nostalgic element to the modern apartment.
The living room is a composition of textures, from the woven cane of the chairs to the patterned cushions and the smooth finish of the teak coffee table.
A close-up detail of the custom-designed armchair, showing the combination of teak wood, cane weaving, and brass accents that define the furniture in this home.
This detail shot highlights the material palette of the living room, with warm wood, natural cane, and touches of brass creating an earthy and inviting atmosphere.
The open layout allows for fluid movement through the space. A high skirting in grey IPS unifies the living and dining areas, creating a seamless transition.
This view captures the dynamic quality of the living space, where modern open-plan design meets traditional elements like the indoor swing.
A quiet reading moment on the swing, next to a built-in niche for displaying books and artifacts. This demonstrates our approach to creating personalized, multi-functional spaces.
About Mane | ಮನೆ: Revitalizing a Heritage Apartment
The primary structural intervention involved removing internal walls to merge the living, dining, and kitchen areas. By creating a clear visual axis from the entrance through to the balcony, we ensured natural light penetrates the entire floor plate. This layout redefines the 1250 sq ft space, transforming it from a fragmented, dark unit into an interconnected, functional home.
Architectural Intervention
In renovating this two-decade-old apartment, our objective was to evoke the functionality of a traditional Karnataka Mane. The original layout was compartmentalized, with a closed kitchen and service zones hindering spatial flow. We carved a small foyer out of the narrow dining area, providing a sense of transition while keeping the main zones open and connected.
Materiality and Finish
To create a unified base, we replaced the existing marble with light grey terrazzo, applying a 450mm IPS (Indian Patent Stone) skirting throughout the living and dining areas to create a seamless floor plane. The master bedroom retains the original Indian marble, repolished to match the muted aesthetic. Teak wood and rattan furniture were integrated to introduce texture and warmth, contrasting with the crisp white walls. The four-poster teak bed and the custom swing in the living area serve as focal points that ground the design in local heritage.
Spatial Quality
This project highlights how structural demolition, when executed with precise material planning, can radically alter the spatial quality of older urban apartments. By removing unnecessary partitions, we improved the natural light ingress and established a fluid circulation path, ensuring that the apartment feels open, ventilated, and responsive to the family's daily movements.
ma+rs
We are ma+rs, a Bangalore-based architecture studio focused on carving out calm, light-filled spaces within the urban fabric. Our practice emphasizes a symbiotic relationship between structure and light, ensuring every home feels rooted in its specific context. We work directly with our clients to transform compartmentalized apartments into fluid living environments.
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