When a client from Mumbai’s eastern suburbs—a quiet father-son duo, one of whom is a budding musician—approached us to design their home, it set the stage for a poetic confluence of two creative disciplines: architecture and music. It’s always a rare pleasure when design engages in dialogue with another form of cultural expression, and in this case, it led to the birth of House of Music.

The House of Music is a Poetic Confluence of Sound & Space | DR&W: Design, Research and Workshop

The original apartment was typical of many developer-built residences in the city—compact, compartmentalized, and finished in a standardized, characterless palette. The challenge was to reinterpret this space and imbue it with warmth, rhythm, and personality—a home not just lived in, but deeply felt.

Design Concept

At its heart, this project became a celebration of the companionship and quiet synergy shared between the father and son, translated into a design language of repetition, resonance, and subtle disruptions—just like a piece of music.

The material soul of the house is humble yet expressive: Indian marble. This singular material appears throughout the home, on floors and occasionally climbing up the walls or rising subtly into sculptural details.

Thresholds are marked with narrow strips of marble, and tiny insertions—like 3”x5” marble pieces at the entrance—create rhythmic pauses in the otherwise fluid layout. These interventions are not loud; instead, they reward attentiveness, like catching a familiar motif return in a musical composition.

Spatial Planning

The spatial plan was opened up to create a fluid, sociable living–dining area—intimate yet airy, ideal for hosting while maintaining a cozy domesticity.

At the entrance, a custom-designed console, semi-screen, and lampshade form a visual prelude—a gentle, lyrical invitation into the space. Lines and grids appear throughout the home, abstractly interpreting the idea of rhythm.

Each bedroom follows its own musical scale. The father’s bedroom is a quiet medley of beige tones and raw finishes. A wooden-framed wardrobe with ribbed glass brings a vintage sensibility, while the bed-back features a live-edge wooden slab, with its organic cavities filled in and detailed to resemble a work of sculpture.

Use of Local Material

Bathrooms throughout the home rely on local materials—Indian Panda marble, terrazzo, and grey marble—used with restraint but great care. Monolithic basin counters and handleless cabinetry reinforce the quiet sophistication. The design treats even small decisions, like carving out handholds in marble shutters, as notes in a larger composition.

The master bedroom offers a striking contrast with its blush walls and a dramatic bed-back clad in Black Telephone granite. Craftsmen stippled the surface with over one lakh hand-hammered “tacha” marks, each standing as a testament to rhythm, repetition, and craft. Back-painted glass wardrobes lend lightness and luminosity, reflecting the white marble floor and allowing daylight to dance across surfaces.

The powder toilet disrupts the prevailing lightness of the home. Clad in a moody cement terrazzo, dimly lit and inviting, it acts as a counterpoint—both in tone and atmosphere. Yet, it still harmonizes with the home’s overarching theme. Custom mirror panels in all bathrooms are designed as playful visual compositions. They underscore the spirit of improvisation and serendipity that music embodies.

House of Music – Private Studio

True to its name, the House of Music features a private studio space with wooden floors and sound-absorbing panels. It’s a retreat where the father and son create, jam, and share their music. The studio’s door is a bespoke piece, crafted from solid wood. Its brass-and-wood handle is inspired by the mechanical elegance of a saxophone—another subtle nod to the narrative.

Skilled artisans custom-designed and handcrafted every piece of furniture in the home. Nothing is off-the-shelf. We take pride in this philosophy: that each detail, each line, each surface contributes to the larger composition. Like a musical score, House of Music unfolds over time—not in grand gestures, but in quiet discoveries, shared rhythms, and the poetry of everyday living.

Fact File

Designed by: DR&W: Design, Research and Workshop

Project Type: Apartment Interior Design

Project Name: House of Music

Location: Mumbai

Year Built: 2025

Duration of the project: 5 Months

Project Size: 1200 Sq.ft

Principal Architect: Jay Shah

Design Credits: Dhruv Sachala

Photograph Courtesy: Neelanjana Chitrabanu

Firm’s Instagram Link: DR&W: Design, Research and Workshop

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