In a quiet pocket of Mumbai, within the city’s layered urban fabric, an ancestral home long remembered has found its way into the present. Architect Rajesh Atha Studio’s latest 1,200-square-foot residential project introduces Hindustani Hygge, a design philosophy that reinterprets ancestral spatial principles like the aangan and verandah for contemporary apartment living.

Travel A Journey From The Traditional Aangan To A Modern Apartment | Architect Rajesh Atha Studio

Client Brief

The architects conceived the project for a Mumbai-based dentist and his wife, long-time collaborators of the studio. Their brief was unconventional: not a list of rooms or finishes, but stories of mosaic floors in a Gamdevi heritage home, of wooden rafters watching over generations, of the copper vessels and stone surfaces that defined daily rituals. These recollections became the design’s foundation.

Design Approach

“We approached this project as excavation over invention,” says Rajesh Atha, principal architect. “The design emerged from lived memory, from spaces and objects that had shaped the clients’ sense of belonging.”

A Contemporary Framework Rooted in Tradition

The home’s spatial planning draws from traditional Indian layouts. A custom teak entry door, its outer panel perforated for ventilation and its inner shutter solid for privacy, sets the tone. The entry foyer buffers the apartment from the shared lobby, much like a traditional porch.

Aangan

This leads into a reimagined aangan, a courtyard-like nucleus that forms the social heart of the home. Here, living, dining, and kitchen spaces converge in a fluid arrangement, connected yet distinct. A concealed pocket door separates these communal areas from the private quarters, balancing openness with intimacy.

Living & Dining

From the aangan, the living room extends like a shaded verandah. Layered with inherited objects, it includes an ash wood and rattan jhoola suspended near the window, a piece both nostalgic and present. The dining area centers on a marble-topped table paired with a custom Maharashtrian bench, a contemporary interpretation of floor-seating traditions.

Bedrooms

The private zone houses the primary suite and a guest bedroom, with the primary laid out as a continuous sequence from sleeping area to wardrobe, dressing space, and ensuite. A floating marble bench at the window offers a quiet corner for reflection.

Material Palette

Every material was chosen for its ability to evoke touch, time, and familiarity. Teak rafters meet hand-painted plank ceilings in the main rooms, handcrafted patterned cement tiles add visual rhythm, and plaster walls with subtle break lines catch shifting daylight.

The sensory experience was as important as the visual one. Temple bells at the prayer alcove chime softly when moved, the swing’s creak was intentionally preserved, and natural ventilation carries the scent of sandalwood through the apartment. These cues ground the home in a lived-in rhythm.

The Hindustani Hygge philosophy favors preservation over replacement. Existing furniture was restored, while new pieces were crafted by local artisans using indigenous materials.

The clients’ inherited copper vessels, religious sculptures, and ritual objects were integrated into everyday use, reducing the project’s carbon footprint while retaining emotional depth. Here, heritage is not displayed; it is embodied. Every object tells a story, every material recalls a memory, and every space invites pause.

A Broader Movement

Beyond a single project, Hindustani Hygge represents a movement in Indian interior design, reviving indigenous planning wisdom for modern contexts, responding to climate, family structures, and daily rituals. It is less of a style and more of a sensibility. A home shaped by memory, belonging, and sensory grace.

“It feels like home in a way I didn’t know an apartment could,” the client reflects. “It holds our past while making space for our present.

Fact File

Designed by: Architect Rajesh Atha Studio

Project Type: Apartment Interior Design

Project Name: Hindustani Hygge

Location: Mumbai

Year Built: 2024

Duration of the project: March 2024 – December 2024

Project Size: 1200 Sq.ft

Principal Architect: Ar. Rajesh Atha

Design Credits: Prachla Sharma

Photograph Courtesy: Varad Anvekar

Products / Materials / Vendors: Flooring and Surfaces: Handcrafted Cement Tiles – Bharat Flooring, Sintered Stone Flooring – Nexion, Natural Stone – Perfect Stones / Architectural Elements: Fiber Cement Ceiling Planks – SHERA, Texture Paint – Asian Paints, Flat Paint – Jotun Paints / Hardware and Fixtures: Electrical Outlets & Switches – Norisys, Plumbing Fixtures – Kohler, Aquant and Sloan / Kitchen and Storage – Modular Kitchen Hardware – Hafele / Kitchen Cabinetry – Shivam Modular Kitchens / FInishes and Details: Laminates – Royale Touche / Bathroom and Kitchen Tiles – MCPL

Firm’s Website Link: Architect Rajesh Atha Studio

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