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Architectural Digest •

This climate-responsive home in Hyderabad is designed to make A/C redundant

Architecture, as any architect will tell you, is in a constant state of reinvention. It tends to move forward—rarely backwards, and almost never in both directions at once. Hyderabad-based architects Vamshidhar Reddy and Mounica Reddy of Iki Builds, however, have never quite subscribed to that way of thinking. Their latest project sits right on that edge: a home in Hyderabad that looks like it belongs to the future, yet is rooted in the wisdom of the past.Built entirely by hand, the spaceship-li...
Domino •

This Circa-1883 Home Had Many Former Lives Before It Became the Coolest House on the Block

Chartres 1883, in Bywater, New Orleans, didn’t start out as a home—it started out as everything else. A hay and feed store. A grocery. A café. A soft drink shop. So when a fifth-generation local millworker and his wife spotted the property in 2022, they didn’t see a fixer-upper—they saw a charming piece of history begging for a second act. The couple fell hard—so much so that they bought the building without plans of ever living in it themselves.


Turns out, luck was on their side. The structu...
Architectural Digest •

Inside a 1,100-square-foot Mumbai apartment that runs on two time zones

They say opposites attract, but interior designers Disha Vakharia and Pria Kanakia of Mumbai-based Bear Spaces know firsthand that sometimes, so can distance. When it came to designing their latest labour of love, a 1,100-square-foot Mumbai apartment, they discovered their clients, Pradeep and Jyoti Shah, a savvy couple in their sixties, couldn’t be more different. One was cheerfully diurnal, the other unapologetically nocturnal, turning the brief into a deft exercise in negotiating two entirely...
Wallpaper* •

In Gujarat, two sapodilla trees shape an entire house

Architects Sönke Hoof and Khushnu Panthaki Hoof have an uncanny gift for noticing the almost invisible – that fleeting detail, or lack thereof, that others might overlook. Yet on a summer’s day not so many years ago, as they left the golden clamour of Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, for the languid green of its hinterland, they arrived at a site that appeared to offer almost nothing at all.Like many such plots on the city’s outskirts – some 30 to 40 minutes away, beyond the tightening...
The Local Project •

Brackenbury & Austin by Studio Shand

Shand committed himself to preserving the past, restoring original brick and timber wherever possible and crafting meticulous elements matching the building’s heritage where he could not. His rule for anything new was simple: it had to feel as though it had always belonged. The old guided the new, with colours, tones and textures – an earthy pastiche of red, yellow and brown – chosen to mirror history. Concrete grounds the lower level, while cork softens the mezzanine with its gentle grain and a...
The Local Project •

In Focus: RJ Living

The Sunlit Forms collection by RJ Living speaks to easy coastal style, where sanctuary, relaxation and comfort are key. There’s something about the calm rhythm of the sea that – if not in presence, then certainly in spirit – has a way of grounding us. RJ Living’s latest collection, Sunlit Forms, channels exactly this feeling: an easy, unhurried coastal energy distilled into furniture and forms that evoke stillness, sanctuary and comfort. It’s a range shaped by quiet details, relaxed silhouettes and materials meant to be lived with, inviting moments of pause in the spaces we inhabit every day.
The Local Project •

Narasiri Victoire Krungthep Kreetha by Sansiri

The Modern French Renaissance aesthetic draws inspiration from the Palace of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, with buildings featuring high arches, proportioned facades and meticulous detailing. It is the only development within the Krungthep Kreetha Community to feature French-influenced architecture, and this design intention is evident from the street-front, where a formidable 140-metre-wide main gate opens to the baroque grandeur of the Apollo Fountain, with its majestic sculpted ho...
Livingetc •

[Print] Hyderabad: Paper to Pillars

As a young architecture student at New York’s Pratt Institute, Nilasha could scarcely have imagined that she would one day be building houses twice—first out of paper, then in brick and stone. That unlikely reality came true in 2024, when her Hyderabad-based practice, Studio Nilasha, took on a project in the city that demanded a more traditional design language than the studio was used to. Struggling at first to judge the scale and proportions of mouldings and ornamental details, the team resorted to full-scale paper mock-ups. Before long, walls were taped over with balustrades, window grilles and even stained-glass stand-ins, until, as Nilasha jokes, “we accidentally built the entire house in stationery before building it for real.”
The Wall Street Journal •

Tired of Pollen, They Turned Their Porch Into a $250,000 Game-Day Lounge

For most homeowners, it takes years of living in a house—even one they’ve designed themselves—to uncover its quieter drawbacks. That was the case when Bron and Molly Heussenstamm built a $2.2 million custom home on a Memphis, Tenn., family compound.

Molly, 44, is a film and television producer whose credits include “Sicario,” while Bron, 46, is CEO of the sports-media distribution company Bleav; the family also has a home in Los Angeles. Three years after building their Memphis house, they admitted they were losing their battle against pollen, which unfailingly settled into the screened-in porch. In the South in the springtime, “your cars and outdoor furniture can be covered in bright yellow,” says Molly, 44. It was hard to keep the pollen out of the porch, and even harder to keep people in.
The Local Project •

Virgin Active Bondi Westfield by Quattro Architecture with Cosentino

At Westfield Bondi Junction, Virgin Active has unveiled its first global social wellness club – a departure from the traditional gym model and a decisive step towards community-led wellbeing. Designed by Sydney-headquartered Quattro Architecture in collaboration with surfaces company Cosentino, Virgin Active Bondi reimagines the fitness environment as a luxury social destination grounded in ritual, recovery and connection. Material innovation underpins this shift. Central to the project is Dekton, an ultra-compact surface developed by Cosentino through a proprietary process that mirrors the natural metamorphic transformation of stone. The result is a dense, low-porosity surface resistant to heat, moisture and abrasion – attributes particularly suited to wet, high-traffic wellness settings. Carbon neutral and sustainably produced as part of Cosentino’s broader environmental commitments, Dekton enables durability and responsible specification to sit alongside aesthetic refinement.
The Local Project •

Mondrian Gold Coast by Fraser & Partners, Studio Carter and Alexander &CO.

Beachside locales are often characterised by a free-spirited charm and laid-back energy, but Mondrian Gold Coast, Australia’s first luxury lifestyle property by Mondrian Hotels, elegantly breaks the mould with its elevated coastal flair. Situated in the chic enclave of Burleigh Heads, the 24-storey hotel comprises studios, suites, private beach houses, a sky house, a bio-wellness spa, event spaces and two podium restaurants. The architecture was helmed by Melbourne-based Fraser & Partners, while the interior design was divided between Studio Carter – a California practice that previously worked on the Mondrian Singapore Duxton – and Sydney’s Alexander &CO. The Barrett Group was entrusted with the fit-out and construction of the two restaurants.
The Local Project •

RJ Living Launches Roam Collection

Homes are rarely still. They expand, contract and quietly collect the evidence of everyday life. With Roam, Melbourne-based RJ Living leans into that gentle chaos, delivering its most expansive collection to date – and one designed to move with you. Spanning living, dining, bedroom, storage and accent pieces, Roam is built around the idea that interiors should feel layered and lived-in rather than overly styled. There’s a subtle mid-century influence at play in the confident lines and textural f...
The Local Project •

Mondrian Gold Coast by Fraser & Partners, Studio Carter and Alexander &CO. - Issue 19 Feature - The Local Project

Beachside locales are often characterised by a free-spirited charm and laid-back energy, but Mondrian Gold Coast, Australia’s first luxury lifestyle property by Mondrian Hotels, elegantly breaks the mould with its elevated coastal flair. Situated in the chic enclave of Burleigh Heads, the 24-storey hotel comprises studios, suites, private beach houses, a sky house, a bio-wellness spa, event spaces and two podium restaurants. The architecture was helmed by Melbourne-based Fraser & Partners, while the interior design was divided between Studio Carter – a California practice that previously worked on the Mondrian Singapore Duxton – and Sydney’s Alexander &CO. The Barrett Group was entrusted with the fit-out and construction of the two restaurants.
The Local Project •

RJ Living Launches Roam Collection

Homes are rarely still. They expand, contract and quietly collect the evidence of everyday life. With Roam, Melbourne-based RJ Living leans into that gentle chaos, delivering its most expansive collection to date – and one designed to move with you. Spanning living, dining, bedroom, storage and accent pieces, Roam is built around the idea that interiors should feel layered and lived-in rather than overly styled. There’s a subtle mid-century influence at play in the confident lines and textural f...
Architectural Digest •

This 150-year-old bungalow in Goa is a sanctuary with a speakeasy soul

Architect Rochelle Santimano doesn’t just see the world in colour—she sees it in full-blown technicolour. “It’s the opposite of being colour-blind,” laughs the founder and principal of Goa-based Studio Praia, for whom every decision is assessed in fifty shades of nuance. The upside? She can spot the difference between scarlet and the right scarlet at twenty paces. The downside? Achieving that exact shade occasionally means sanding down a perfectly good tile in pursuit of chromatic perfection. Su...
Architectural Digest •

This designer in Bhavnagar, Gujarat is turning abandoned tree trunks into living sculptures

Most of us drive past discarded tree trunks without a second glance. Shetal Parekh slows down. She looks again. And then she looks closer. Through her Bhavnagar-based practice, Inochi, she transforms what others leave behind into living sculptural works—pieces that don’t just occupy a room, but quietly alter its energy. Rooted in restraint and guided by intuition, Parekh’s interventions allow each trunk to retain its inherent rhythm, asymmetry, and memory.
Architectural Digest •

This café-bar in Mumbai channels the easy energy of a well-loved living room

Ever since Friends gave us Central Perk, the idea of a café as a second living room has felt less like fiction and more like fellowship. Not the orange sofa or the punchlines, necessarily—but that easy, casual togetherness. The sense that you could walk in at any hour and find your people, your corner, your rhythm. In Bandra, Mumbai, restaurateur Rashi Morbia channels precisely that spirit with The Nook, a 1,500-square-foot café-bar hybrid designed as a social anchor for coffee, cocktails, and conversation. Conceived by Dhvani Shah of her eponymous Mumbai-based design studio, the space nods to Central Perk’s ethos of belonging—not as a motif, but as a mood. Shah describes it as a contemporary “third place”—that elusive zone between home and work where you can loiter with—or without—purpose. “We weren’t interested in replicating a sitcom set,” she says. “It was about capturing that core ethos—a place where everyone belongs, where the seating makes you stay longer than you planned, and the atmosphere feels effortlessly warm.”
The Local Project •

In Focus: CDK Stone

Comfort, connection and inspiration are the three key elements of CDK Stone’s elevated new experience centre in Sydney. CDK Stone’s new selection centre in Sydney’s Alexandria defies the conventions of a typical retail offering. The products don’t vie for attention, nor do they dominate the space: instead, they’re thoughtfully integrated into a calm, gallery-like setting that invites slow discovery and tactile engagement. The new centre is emblematic of a shift towards more elevated, design-led experiences – an ethos that will soon extend to the stone specialist’s other retail formats.
The Local Project •

120 Collins Street by Hassell

Some things get better with age – though, as Ingrid Bakker, the principal, board director and co-leader of the commercial and workplace sector at Hassell, will attest, they sometimes need a little help along the way. Such was the case with 120 Collins Street, a landmark skyscraper on the storied street in Melbourne’s CBD, originally completed by Hassell in association with architect Daryl Jackson in 1991. The ground floor and entrance had gradually lost their lustre, and to restore the 35-year-old spaces to their former glory, Hassell returned to lead the transformation, creating a revitalised, future-facing experience that pays homage to the original while meeting contemporary expectations.
The Local Project •

In Focus: CDK Stone - Issue 19 Feature

Comfort, connection and inspiration are the three key elements of CDK Stone’s elevated new experience centre in Sydney. The new selection centre in Sydney’s Alexandria defies the conventions of a typical retail offering. The products don’t vie for attention, nor do they dominate the space: instead, they’re thoughtfully integrated into a calm, gallery-like setting that invites slow discovery and tactile engagement. The new centre is emblematic of a shift towards more elevated, design-led experiences – an ethos that will soon extend to the stone specialist’s other retail formats.
The Local Project •

120 Collins Street by Hassell - Issue 19 Feature

Some things get better with age – though, as Ingrid Bakker, the principal, board director and co-leader of the commercial and workplace sector at Hassell, will attest, they sometimes need a little help along the way. Such was the case with 120 Collins Street, a landmark skyscraper on the storied street in Melbourne’s CBD, originally completed by Hassell in association with architect Daryl Jackson in 1991. The ground floor and entrance had gradually lost their lustre, and to restore the 35-year-old spaces to their former glory, Hassell returned to lead the transformation, creating a revitalised, future-facing experience that pays homage to the original while meeting contemporary expectations.
Architectural Digest •

Abandoned for 20 years, this century-old granary in Kerala is now a weekend home

In the village of Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, framed against the hazy outline of the Western Ghats and cradled by paddy fields and a tranquil pond, stands a century-old granary that passersby might mistake for a forgotten relic, its laterite walls burnished by monsoon after monsoon, its timber beams darkened with age. Abandoned for over twenty years, it served as a silent sentinel to passing seasons—slowly forgotten by generation after generation of the family to whom it belonged....
Architectural Digest •

Inside a Mumbai apartment where colour keeps its cool across 3 bedrooms

Colour is a tricky affair. Whisper “beige” and a maximalist shudders; shout “fuchsia” and a minimalist reaches for a calming white wall. For some, it’s a love language. For others, a calculated risk. But for architects Kasturi Wagh and Vineet Hingorani of Mumbai-based kaviar:collaborative, it was a bit of both. “We like to think we’re colour-committed, not colour-crazy,” laughs Wagh, nodding to the studio’s past work—comfortably hushed, quietly tonal, and far more fluent in nuance than in noise. That knack for subtlety is exactly what Priyankka and Prathamesh Sonawane were looking for when they stumbled upon the studio on Instagram. “They’d been following our work for a while and reached out saying they felt aligned with our design language and wanted to work with us specifically,” says Hingorani. The energies clicked—and suddenly, colour didn’t feel quite so tricky anymore.
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