Editor’s Note: Some homes carry their history not through their size, but through the rituals and memories they preserve. Kanavu Nilaya in Bengaluru transforms a compact apartment into a continuation of a mother’s lifelong home in Chennai. Designed by AD Studio 9, the residence places inherited artefacts, a refurbished column, and a familiar swing at the heart of everyday living. Each element finds its place through careful attention to the family’s routines, allowing tradition to feel lived in rather than displayed. A restrained palette of sage green, warm oak, brass, and terracotta brings depth to the interiors, while thoughtful detailing works within the apartment’s structural constraints. Even the old cot is restored, preserving a piece of personal history. Kanavu Nilaya shows how a home can carry generations of memories into a new city without losing its sense of belonging. ~ Yashika Bajaniya

A Chennai Home, Carried Into a Bengaluru Apartment

In Kanavu Nilaya, AD Studio 9 designs a compact high-rise apartment inspired by a woman’s memories of the home she lived in all her life. The project shows that tradition is not about square footage. It is about intent.

Most apartment interiors begin with a mood board. Kanavu Nilaya began with a morning ritual. When a family of three moved from Chennai to Bengaluru, the mother carried a simple hope into her first apartment. Having lived nearly all her life in a traditional Chennai house, she wanted her new home to hold those memories. At the first meeting, she did not describe rooms. She spoke about how she starts her day, where she lights the lamp, and how the swing shapes her daily rhythm. She also spoke about the traditional column that stood in her old home.

What made the brief remarkable was its selflessness. The couple, Sunder and Lakshmi, kept their personal needs limited to their bedrooms. They wanted Amma to feel at home in every shared space. Many of the artifacts were family heirlooms, some passed down from her great-grandmother. Displaying these pieces properly was a priority from the beginning. They were never decorative additions brought in at the end. Instead, they became the foundation of the design.

A Family Of 3 Preserves Ancestral Memories Through Thoughtful Apartment Interiors | AD Studio 9

Designing Ritual by Ritual

The home took shape around daily rituals rather than individual rooms. The design considered where the lamp would be lit each morning, where the swing would catch the afternoon light, and where the family could see their artifacts every day. The living spaces revolve around two elements the mother described most vividly: a refurbished column and the swing. The column is a reclaimed piece that is more than 150 years old. We adapted the design to preserve its original height and finish instead of commissioning a reproduction. Her old cot was also restored and fitted with a new headboard. Restoring it cost more than buying a new one, but that was never in question. The cot became the heart of her room.

A bespoke crockery unit displays the family’s inherited artifacts as part of daily life rather than packing their history away. The flooring performs quiet zoning: an inlay line defines each space and separates it from the next without a wall or a word, giving the plan a legible hierarchy that apartments rarely arrive with.

Working With the Apartment, Not Against It

High-rise apartments come with their own set of constraints. Since the building used Mivan construction, the project allowed no structural changes or even the relocation of electrical points. We worked these limitations into the design rather than fighting them. The immovable ducting was concealed behind slatted panelling. In the master bedroom, we integrated the air conditioning into a carefully planned piece of joinery. It became part of the design rather than a compromise.

The clients are taller than average, so vanity units were raised; the mother’s age called for replacing the slippery glossy standard tiles, so ROFF cement, needing minimal laying height, was laid directly over the existing flooring, no demolition, no debris, no loss of an already low ceiling. And because even nine feet of clear height read too low for a tall family, every ceiling surface was curved so no edges are seen, and the space reads taller than it is.

Colour, Craft and the Quiet Details

The palette pairs hand polished sage green oak veneer with warm polished oak, brass, terracotta and rust tones, all finished in natural oil, never artificial coatings, letting the grain breathe and keeping the home healthy to live in. Pure brass handles run throughout. Hand carved corbels hold brass hanging lamps, and a temple inspired painted band traces the ceiling. Every hand polished surface represents hours of an artisan’s skill; choosing craft over catalogue is also choosing to keep those skills alive for the next generation.

Six months after handover, the practice went back, believing that is when a home shows how it truly works. The mother had claimed the swing as her own, spending most of her day there. She said the home looks exactly how she had imagined. Kanavu Nilaya proves that tradition does not need a bungalow, a courtyard or a big budget. Even a compact apartment can carry an entire ancestral home inside it, if the decisions are made with care.

Fact File

Designed by: AD Studio 9

Project Type: Residential Interior Design

Project Name: Kanavu Nilaya

Location: Bangalore

Built-up Area: 1600 Sq.ft

Principal Architects: Apoorva Lekha N 

Execution: Sandesh Dhanaaj & Ekatva Grid

Styling: Shivani Raina

Photograph Courtesy: hansoga_photography

Firm’s Website Link: AD Studio 9

Firm’s Instagram Link: AD Studio 9

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