The Collector’s Residence
A 1930s Art Deco apartment restored and quietly rebuilt
- Marine Drive, Mumbai
- 2024
- 3,400 sq ft
- Heritage Restoration, Interior Design, Structural Coordination, Bespoke Joinery
A careful restoration of a listed Art Deco apartment on Marine Drive — retaining what was original, replacing what was pastiche, and adding a contemporary layer that does not pretend to be older than it is.
The apartment had been renovated three times since the 1970s and almost nothing of those interventions was worth keeping. We removed a false ceiling that had hidden the original 3.6m height for four decades, and found intact terrazzo under two layers of vitrified tile.
Original elements — terrazzo floors, curved plaster corners, the teak entrance door and the balcony railings — were restored by conservation specialists. Everything new is deliberately legible as new: blackened steel, plain oak, unornamented plaster.
Services were the hard part. Modern electrical, plumbing and cooling loads had to be delivered through a structure with no risers to spare, resolved through a slim perimeter chase concealed behind restored skirting profiles.
What the house isactually made of.
Restored terrazzo
Original 1930s floor, re-polished
Blackened steel
New interventions, clearly contemporary
Plain oak
Unfigured, matte-finished joinery
Lime plaster
Matched to original curved corner profiles
Recovered height
Removing a 1970s false ceiling returned the apartment to its original 3.6-metre volume.
Honest additions
New work is never made to look period. Blackened steel and plain oak sit clearly alongside restored terrazzo and plaster.
Invisible services
Full modern services delivered through a slim perimeter chase, with no loss of ceiling height and no visible bulkheads.
What was herebefore we began.
Three previous renovations had left the apartment with 2.4m false ceilings, tiled-over terrazzo and a plan cut into eight small rooms. The restoration removed rather than added: forty years of accumulation came out, the original volume and floor came back, and the new work was limited to services, joinery and light.
What we appreciated most was the honesty. When something would not work, we were told plainly and early. Nothing on this project was a surprise, including the final number.
Something like this,somewhere like yours.
If The Collector’s Residence is close to what you have in mind, tell us about your site and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right studio for it.