If architecture gives form to a home, then lighting adds life and energy to the built form. Well-thought-out and planned lighting enhances the elements and details of a space, forming a complementary relationship with the structure, enriching the mood and ambience of the interiors and the dwellers, too. To build a house that celebrates this symbiotic relationship, the clients approached Moriq Interiors to design the home and invited Thea Light Works to light it. “We were called in during the early stages to conceive an unconventional design for the lighting. The brief, simply put, was to work with an organic mindset and develop strategies atypically. Since the architecture and the interiors of the home have blended different forms of style – contemporary, classical and new classical designs – the lighting had to complement the composition of the house,” Dashak Agarwal of Thea Light Works says.

The expansive Hyderabad bungalow has a softly lit exterior, that subtly highlights different sections of the home. “We used a very simple approach for outdoor lighting. We illuminated the double-height central courtyard with an asymmetric uplight which gives a soft ambient glow to the facade and the architectural bridge,’ Agarwal says.

The interiors and exteriors feature lighting designs specifically suited for the look and vibe of each area. “We strongly believe in Richard Kelly’s three principles of lighting design – ‘focal glow’ that points out important elements; ‘ambient luminescence’ that is the background lighting that serves to perceive the environment in general, and ‘play of brilliants’, that is light as information, which can be dynamic or colourful. These three principles built the pediment for this project. Every nook and corner is designed keeping in mind the above-mentioned rules,” Agarwal says.

The house is divided into two blocks – the first is occupied by the grandmother and the grandchildren, and the second by the two sons and their wives.

The first block has a studio-like feel to it, with an open-plan design. It features the grandmother’s bedroom on the ground floor with a kitchen and a guest room. On the first floor are the grandchildren’s bedrooms.

This seamless kitchen-cum-dining-room-cum-guest-room has a clean look, with three pendants and wall lights giving a subdued gleam to the room. “We chose a uniform light colour (3000 Kelvin) for the entire home. The interiors were designed with a single lighting element called the Running Magnet by FLOS. This multi-functional luminaire extends from walls to ceilings and back and forth through all interior spaces. It gave us unlimited options to play around with and allowed us to bring in light in areas that really needed it, providing an element of surprise and flexibility,” Agarwal says.

One of the children’s bedrooms on the first floor, with swathes of two contrasting hues – yellow and black – has an upbeat, energised vibe to it. The area is enhanced with recessed ceiling lights and a pendant. The large windows allow the room to be naturally lit during the day.

The lobby of the kids’ area, between two rooms, is colourful and has a young, fun feel to it. Sunlight and the ambient FLOS lighting brightens up the space.

The passage between the first and second block features a courtyard and water body, with a bridge that connects the two sections. “The water body is lit up using a soft diffused IP68 (referring to the make of the light, where IP or Ingress Protection describes the degree of protection a fitting has from intrusion of solid and liquid material). The bridge shows a custom suspension lamp designed for the outdoors, which gives an artistic feel to the facade,” Agarwal says.

The second block, home to the two sons, comprises a living room on the ground floor, and two identical master bedrooms, one daughter’s room and a TV room on the first floor. This section of the house is more high-energy and lively – the lighting designs are chosen to suit the upbeat colours used in the space.

The large living room is dramatic with a double-height ceiling. The sectionals, multiple centre tables and colourful rug aside, what stands out is the cluster of long, slender custom pendants at varying heights that give a layered effect to the room’s volume. “The living room has a custom-made wood-and-metal-frame chandelier built by Concept Image and us. The intention of using this chandelier was to create a wave in the living area. The lighting of the space is designed to ensure ample and equal distribution of illumination owing to the high ceiling. Several decorative pieces from Karman, FLOS, Davide Groppi, Simes (outdoor section) and Artekipo were used, to name a few,” Agarwal says.

Close to the living room is the rear lobby area highlighted by vintage, distressed doors, seating area and a unique metallic partition. To match the laid-back spirit of the room, the sleek luminaire, Running Magnet by FLOS was chosen.

The powder room in the rear block has an understated, industrial vibe to it, with the concrete sink and walls, and the unusual tap at the end of a long thin pipe extending from the ceiling. “We’ve used the wall to illuminate the room – there are no ceiling lights here. The fixture used in the bathroom is a custom-made, linear luminaire by Indiled,” says Agarwal.

The clean, minimally decorated staircase in brown gets a touch of warmth with the black-and-white family pictures hung along the staircase lit up by the long strips of ceiling lights running along the length of the space.