Around 2015, one of our neighbors approached us to redesign his existing house in an old building in Santacruz West. It was a duplex apartment for which they had earlier installed a private lift and it had a sloping roof – a rarity in a Mumbai apartment. Considering the type of apartment it was, we decided to use only a muted, minimalist palette which consisted of Italian Travertine and Burma Teak Wood. The space had an old-world charm, and we decided to celebrate it – but also make it a bit more contemporary. Every piece of furniture – from the dining table to the chairs, the bar unit, the louvred sliding partition doors to the staircase – was designed and handmade, polished, and finished on-site. The most important task was realigning the internal staircase – something that is not visually evident now – but had a huge impact on the spatial design of the house.