How does one bring the spirit of Ahmedabad’s modernist architecture into a contemporary high-rise apartment? For NG Apartment, Studio Saransh looked beyond visual references, translating the city’s architectural language through material, proportion, detail and atmosphere. Designed for a “true-blue Amdavadi,” the 250 sqm home was envisioned as a place that felt like a home rather than a conventional apartment.
Project Name: NG Apartment
Studio Name: Studio Saransh
Location: Ahmedabad
Carpet Area: 250 sqm
Photographer: Ishita Sitwala
As Kaveesha Shah, Principal Interior Designer at Studio Saransh, recalls, “The space should not feel like an apartment, but rather like a home, where the essence of modernist Ahmedabad lingers in its materials, its textures and the air.”
The transformation began by stripping away the apartment’s standardized finishes and furnishings, exposing its raw surfaces. With only a few civil changes, the studio reworked the existing layout to create a more distinct spatial experience. The drawing room opens onto a long corridor connecting the formal and private zones, with four bedrooms placed along its length. An existing bedroom was transformed into a lounge, while the kitchen is enclosed with a translucent glass door that allows light in while maintaining privacy. The material palette forms the strongest connection to Ahmedabad’s modernist past, with reclaimed Valsadi teak, brick-clad walls, exposed RCC ceilings and polished Kota stone establishing a raw yet warm character. A continuous wooden datum runs through the home, bringing a sense of proportion and order while concealing electrical wiring, while lighting is integrated through circular brass plates and suspended channels.
The references become more apparent through the finer details. Door handles throughout the home take inspiration from the windows of Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Haut, while mid-century modern furniture from Tectona Grandis Furniture and Studio Works continues the architectural language. A traditional Gujarati hinchko (swing) introduces a more familiar, domestic touch. The corridor becomes a key design moment, with a brick vault inspired by the jack arches of Le Corbusier’s Sarabhai House. Mirrors at either end extend the curve visually, creating the illusion of an “endless brick vault”. “It’s one of those things you don’t notice at first, and then suddenly, you do,” says Kaveesha.
The bedrooms continue the material vocabulary with individual interpretations. The master bedroom pairs a minimalist four-poster bed with exposed RCC, brick, timber and warmer wood flooring. The son’s bedroom, designed by Aditya Ghiya himself, replaces the conventional wardrobe with a bespoke library and suitcase console. A large glass opening connects the bathroom visually to the sleeping area, while sliding wooden shutters with operable louvres provide privacy.
Furniture by Amolakh uses reclaimed teak and mindful joinery. In contrast, the lounge is designed as a relaxed retreat, with cast-in-situ terrazzo flooring, stucco-finished walls and a wooden fascia creating a rustic, laid-back atmosphere. A taller, curved skirting detail meets the brick-infused terrazzo rising towards the window ledge. “The idea is that when you enter this room, you feel like you’ve entered the weekend,” Kaveesha says.
NG Apartment is not a recreation of Ahmedabad’s Corbusian era, but a contemporary interpretation of the memories it has left behind. From the exposed materials and vaulted corridor to the reclaimed teak, personal artworks and carefully integrated details, the home carries the city’s modernist legacy into an intimate domestic setting.
