Svasa Homes by Machani Group is a project that reimagines how residents can live out their lives using innovative experience design. The entire interior design was inspired by the Tridevi concept and is interpreted in a modern way for contemporary style homes.
Commonhouse – Sattva Lounge
Imagine a home that enables you to lead a fulfilled life. Svasa Homes by Machani Group is a project that reimagines how residents can live out their lives using innovative experience design. The entire interior design was inspired by the Tridevi concept and is interpreted in a modern way for contemporary style homes. The use of this concept in a modern house plan stemmed from the belief that when the triad of needs is met, you can truly lead a fulfilled life. The triad of needs in the Tridevi concept refers to Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati and their attributes which can enhance your life in every aspect.
Svasa Homes pushes the envelope to create contemporary homes rooted in cultural heritage with all the modern convenience that can make a balanced life a reality. We imagined bright open spaces with a Vedic courtyard design that can be enjoyed by the extended family while showcasing an exquisite collection of heritage art.
Its contemporary yet heritage-inspired space is defined by its modern and luxurious aesthetic. It references Indian interior design elements throughout its spaces, but the intent behind this goes deeper than the surface. “As a family business that has flourished over eight decades in various businesses, we have found that culture and values are something that we hold very closely. The balance we constantly seek to find is between remaining agile on the one hand while carrying on the best practices from previous experience,” says Hima Reddy, design director of Svasa Homes.
“Today we are all caught up in a world where the pace is much faster due to information access and exchange. Knowingly or unknowingly we are all keeping up a frantic pace. The lines between home and office are blurred. We wanted to ensure that people had an opportunity to slow down and not travel distances in order to work, play, introspect, learn, or interact.”
The 36000 sqft clubhouse space and 97000 sqft landscape area were painstakingly designed to create a well-balanced living space for its residents. “We wanted to create a space always keeping the consumer as the center of all decision making. We wanted every resident to think of this as an extension of their home and a space that facilitated interaction within the community and cut across various generations.”
The clubhouse or “Commonhouse” is inspired by the Tridevi concept using the avatars of Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati. “Saraswati is the goddess of learning & knowledge. Lakshmi represents prosperity and wealth. Parvati represents nature and family. When all these needs are addressed and in balance, only then can one lead a truly fulfilling life.”
Though this concept has been derived from Indian heritage, the interpretations of these concepts are very subtle and modern. “A huge emphasis has instead been placed on the elements of the goddesses rather than big statues of the goddesses themselves. Every element and icon of goddesses have been studied and been represented in a deconstructed format. The idea is to take the tridevi iconography and find contemporary expressions to be inspired by,’’ say design experts Hima Reddy and Niels Schoenfelder.
To bring this concept to reality Mancini Enterprises and CORE Experience took experience design to a new level. Speaking of what experience design means at Svasa Homes, Hima Reddy says, “Experience design to me is what happens at an individual level when we walk into a certain space. Some spaces automatically calm us down and at the other end of the spectrum, all of us have experienced spaces where the energy levels are elevated. Along with what they feel there also needs to be an ease of using the product.’’
The Svasa Homes design philosophy believes that design can affect you at a subliminal level whether you’re aware of it or not. Because of this, immense care has gone into the meaning and effect behind every touch point that interacts with the senses. Even the name “Svasa” in Sanskrit means breath. The very act of breathing is continuous yet unconscious and vital to one’s life.
Mancini and CORE Experience were tasked to dramatically yet thoughtfully transform the space into areas that reflect the elements of the Tridevi. The design team was tasked to highlight the Goddesses’ attributes while using subtle iconography all throughout the spaces. To achieve this, craftsmen and artists worked laboriously to preserve history. They used unique methods such as mixed media, and various other materials like marble glass and stone to bring ancient concepts to life in these modern homes.
“The idea of using Tridevi itself that helps drive the amount of care you give to what you do. Nobody, not you, not me, not any of the grounds people would ever dream of treating an image of Maha Lakshmi in an uncaring way. You would never just take a blue tack and stick it to your wall. You will make sure it’s somehow nicely framed. You will make sure it somehow has found a nice part on your wall or in your puja area, where it is adequately highlighted. When you start caring about this space you’re working on, that’s when you realise the importance of your work and getting those who build it to care. That, in the end, just yields a more humanistic outcome, and those who are the end users can sense the care you’ve put into every detail” say Niels Schoenfelder the Founder of Mancini Enterprises.
In the Bodhi Library, Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge was the guiding influence. The use of the veena, lotus iconography and over 2000 carefully curated books brought together her distinct attributes of wisdom, power, and knowledge. The library is enhanced with rare books and research literature from top business schools such as IMD, Switzerland.
The Sattva lounge is a space for families to indulge in conversations at leisure while they draw inspiration from the owner’s collection of antiques and art on display. The attributes of Goddess Lakshmi are interpreted through interior details such as peacock motifs, temple elephants, parrots, metals, jewels, kalashams, luxurious textiles, floral motifs, rich art, and craft.
Karya, from the Sanskrit word for work, is a dedicated business lounge inspired by elements of Goddess Lakshmi. The lounge includes a private meeting room, conference room, discussion tables, and coworking spaces.
The Krida Lounge exudes elements of Parvati’s inner Durga. The interiors exude her raw power and grace in perfect balance.
The Asana yoga studio on one side caters to having young children in a completely safe space. The mezzanine studio, on the other hand, allows parents to keep an eye on older children playing in the outdoor space. It also represents the softer elements of the goddesses. Various interpretations of the yantras that embody the goddesses are represented in its interiors.
At Svasa Homes, nature and plants are very important elements that are repeated in all spaces. “In all areas, we have chosen to have many tropical indoor plants and in order to ensure that they thrived, we had to install photosynthetic lights indoors and ensure we fabricated planters with caster wheels so that there is optimal rotation. A large central water body has been created with seating pods so residents can sit and enjoy the sound of water and the koi fish lotus ponds,” says Hima Reddy, design director of Svasa Homes.
The overall design was created to push the boundaries of experience and modern house design and add meaning at all touch points. The intention behind this is to create spaces where you spend most of your time and have an immense impact on your life. Svasa Homes is a contemporary style home that was explicitly designed to inspire innovation and creativity.
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Dhyana Tower – Mural in Lift Lobby
Hima Reddy gives an example of this as seen in the lift lobby space, “This is typically a space that is transient in nature and one spends a few minutes. However, we challenged ourselves to make this space so interesting that it does not feel transient. Instead, we chose to commission a long 80-100 ft mural that was hand-painted by 8 very talented artists over a span of 4 months. Today there is so much beauty in this space that it is immersive. You can even notice new details every time you observe the mural.”
This immersive design was created keeping the family at the center. “At no point did we lose focus on the resident. This can be seen in numerous thoughtful design details. For example, take the 5-meter tall glass facade. It took us over 6 months to engineer this product as almost all facades in India cater to the 3-meter height.
These glass facades create an experience where one member of the family could sit in one tower and yet watch their child playing chess in another tower. At the same time, they could also keep an eye on their parents taking a stroll through the premises.”
Artists played a significant role in the development of key elements throughout Svasa Homes. Speaking of the challenges faced in the execution of artistry in the design Hima says, “The swimming pool itself was a challenging exercise. Initially, it was at the ground level but we felt that families would appreciate the privacy if it was moved to the rooftop. In order to do this, we had to strengthen the entire load and build another mother slab to address leakages and safety.
The inlays required a mix of small one-inch tiles and marble to be combined. No mason was willing to do this as it meant painstakingly cutting and filing small one-inch tiles. It was at this point that we realised we needed craftsmen who genuinely prided themselves on creating beautiful art rather than someone who just wants to lay stones.”
Mancini Enterprises has an interesting take on how creativity kicks in when faced with design challenges. “Sometimes mundane problems that we face can push you to use your creativity. The creative liberty provided to us led us to develop poetic moments in the interiors. Interior design is often very commercially driven. The market moves very fast on trends and the latest fads. People want quick, instant gratification. The genius of this project isn’t really in interior design, it’s that somebody took the time and energy to let us do our jobs to the highest quality we could. They never sped us up, and as an artist myself, I appreciate having the time to get it right,” says Niels Schoenfelder
The designers incorporated various bespoke artworks, carpets, and antiques throughout the contemporary interiors making the Svasa Homes Commonhouse a treat for all the senses. Ravi Machani’s dedication to the preservation and application of heritage values have filled the space with character. The inclusion of not only historical artifacts but historical values bring Indian heritage to life making it relevant to everyday living in a unique way.
