THE JOURNAL
From the Studio — page 27
Room Guides
25 Small Bathroom Design Ideas That Make the Most of Every Square Foot
25 small bathroom design ideas covering layout, tiling, waterproofing, lighting and budget bands, from Studio Contour, Kolkata's interior design studio since 2014.
Practical Guides & Ideas
A G+2 Independent House in Salt Lake: The Design Decisions That Shaped the Final Plan
How Studio Contour designs a G+2 independent house in Salt Lake, from Bidhannagar plot rules to floor allocation, kitchen layout, and Vastu-driven daylighting.
Practical Guides & Ideas
A G+4 Residence in New Town: Balancing Four Floors for a Joint Family
How Studio Contour plans G+4 joint family homes in New Town, Kolkata, from NKDA sanction and floor allocation to interiors that make four floors feel like one home.
Commercial & Workplace
How to Design a 300 Sq Ft Cafe Counter for Footfall in New Town
We walk through how to lay out the counter zone of a 300 sq ft New Town cafe so billing, pickup, and display shelving keep pace with peak footfall.
Commercial & Workplace
Coworking Space Design Ideas for a 40-Seat Office in Sector 5
We work out the hot desk to cabin ratio, phone booth count, and circulation width that make a 40-seat coworking floor in Sector 5 actually function.
Local Guides
Inside a G+3 Residence We Designed in New Town Action Area II
A real G+3 residence we designed in New Town Action Area II, broken down by plot rules, floor layout, and interior decisions, for homeowners planning their own build.
Seasonal & Trending
Kolkata's Short Winter Window: Why Salt Lake and New Town Terraces Peak in December and January
Why New Town and Salt Lake terraces only truly work for 8-12 weeks a year, and how Studio Contour designs them to survive monsoon and summer too.
Local Guides
Living Near Biswa Bangla Gate: Inside New Town's Most Recognisable Landmark Neighbourhood
Thinking about building or renovating near Biswa Bangla Gate in New Town? Here's what the landmark, the plots around it, and the rules actually mean for your project.
Building Guidelines
How NKDA Calculates Required Parking per Built-Up Area for Apartments
Buyers keep asking us how NKDA actually calculates required parking for a New Town apartment, and the answer scales directly with total built up area.
Decision Guides
Old Cooperative Flats in Salt Lake vs New High-Rise Towers in New Town: A Buyer's Trade-Off Guide
Comparing an old Salt Lake cooperative flat to a new New Town high-rise? Here's what each really costs in structure, timeline, and design trade-offs.
Cost Guides
Hiring an Interior Designer for a Premium 4BHK in Salt Lake
Hiring a premium 4BHK interior designer in Salt Lake means weighing freelancers, contractor packages, and firms. Here's Studio Contour's honest, specific case for why we're the right call.
Hiring Guides
Hiring an Architect as a Retired Couple Downsizing in Salt Lake
A retired couple downsizing in Salt Lake needs an architect fluent in accessibility, NKDA/Bidhannagar rules, and 330+ local buildings since 2014, here's why that's us.
Practical Guides & Ideas
Salt Lake's Morning Walk and Club Culture: How Ground-Floor Design Responds to Community Life
How ground-floor architecture and interior design in Salt Lake, Kolkata should respond to morning-walk foot traffic, club culture, and community life.
Decision Guides
Salt Lake's Para Puja Culture vs New Town's Newer Community Pandals: What It Means for Home Design
How Salt Lake's street-level para puja culture and New Town's complex-centric pandals shape facade, balcony and ground-floor design decisions for homeowners hiring an architect in New Town.
Hiring Guides
Sumana Kumar on Explaining FAR to a Client Without the Jargon
Sumana Kumar of Studio Contour explains FAR, ground coverage and setbacks in plain language for Kolkata plot owners, and how to test an architect on it.
Practical Guides & Ideas
Main Door Vastu Direction for an East-Facing Flat in New Town
Not every spot on an east wall is equally auspicious for a main door, so here is how we help New Town buyers check which pada their unit's entrance actually falls in.
Room Guides
5x7 Bathroom Layout Guide: Where to Put the WC, Basin and Shower
A practical 5x7 bathroom layout guide for Kolkata homes: where to place the WC, basin and shower, plus materials, waterproofing and cost from Studio Contour.
Building Guidelines
What NKDA Rules Say About Basement Depth Near New Town's High Water Table
New Town sits on reclaimed wetland with a shallow water table, and that single fact shapes what NKDA will actually approve for your basement more than any generic depth chart.
Practical Guides & Ideas
Boundary Wall Finish That Survives Repeated Kolkata Monsoon Soaking
A repainted compound wall that peels again within a year usually means the render and waterproofing were skipped, not that the paint was wrong. Here is what actually holds up.
Practical Guides & Ideas
Converting a Salt Lake Bungalow Into Two Rental Units: What the Project Involved
A practical breakdown of what it actually takes to convert a Salt Lake bungalow into two independent rental units, from NKDA approval to plumbing splits to what tenants notice first.
Local Guides
Flats Around Nazrul Tirtha: Designing for Action Area I's Cultural Quarter
A New Town architect's guide to designing flats near Nazrul Tirtha, Action Area I's cultural quarter, covering site noise, layout, NKDA rules, and interiors.
Decision Guides
Modular-Only Firm or a Studio That Does Both: Hiring the Right Fit in Kolkata
Modular or carpentry in Kolkata isn't really the choice, it's whether your firm does both well. Here's how Studio Contour decides room by room, and why it matters.
Local Guides
New Town Action Area I: How the Neighbourhood Has Changed Since the First Towers Went Up
How Action Area I in New Town, Kolkata has changed since its first towers, and what that means for anyone planning to build, renovate, or hire an architect there today.
Practical Guides & Ideas
Redesigning a 1970s Salt Lake Duplex for a Three-Generation Household
A practical guide to redesigning a 1970s Salt Lake duplex for a multi-generational household, covering structural checks, Bidhannagar compliance, zoning, and real timelines.