THE JOURNAL
From the Studio — page 42
Local Guides
Is Your 1980s Salt Lake Flat Structurally Sound? What a Pre-Renovation Audit Should Check
Before you touch an original-generation Salt Lake flat, a structural audit should tell you what is behind the plaster, not just what is on the surface.
Local Guides
Rewiring an Old Salt Lake Flat: Load Capacity, Conduit Routing and What Rarely Gets Talked About
A flat wired in 1985 for two fans and a fridge is now running two split ACs, an oven and a washing machine on the same sanctioned load, and the wiring knows it.
Local Guides
Why Salt Lake's Original Cast-Iron Plumbing Risers Keep Failing (And How to Fix Them During Renovation)
The vertical cast-iron pipe running through your bathroom wall is shared with the flat above and below, and by now it is rusting from the inside out.
Building Guidelines
Which Action Area I Micro-Pockets Are Commanding the Highest Resale Premiums Right Now
Action Area I is not one resale market, it is several, and the gap between its strongest and weakest pockets has widened enough that treating it as one number is now a mistake.
Local Guides
Renovating a Flat in a Salt Lake Cooperative Housing Society: What the Society Bylaws Actually Allow
Municipal sanction is only half the picture in Salt Lake. Here is what your cooperative society's NOC, bylaws and managing committee will actually control.
Local Guides
Living Next to Sector V: Designing Salt Lake Homes in Sector IV for Noise and Traffic
We design Sector IV homes daily against Sector V's traffic and footfall, and here is exactly how window placement, glazing and landscaping absorb that noise.
Local Guides
Salt Lake's Sector I, II and III: How the Character of Each Actually Differs
Salt Lake's three original sectors were planned decades apart in spirit even if the map calls them neighbours, and their plots, roads and canopy cover still show it today.
Seasonal & Trending
Wedding Season Deep-Clean and Refresh Checklist for Kolkata Homes Hosting Guests
A room-by-room deep-clean plan timed to Kolkata's Nov-Feb wedding season, for homes about to host relatives through weeks of back-to-back functions.
Practical Guides & Ideas
How to Bring Natural Light into a Dark Middle-Floor New Town Flat
When neighbouring towers block your windows and interior rooms stay dim all day, the fix is light wells, glass, and reflective surfaces, not more bulbs.
Practical Guides & Ideas
How to Fix Low Water Pressure in a Top-Floor New Town Flat
Weak flow on the upper floors of a New Town tower is a mechanical problem with mechanical answers, and we walk through the booster pump, pipe and fixture fixes that actually work.
Building Guidelines
Can You Add a Mezzanine Floor Within an Already NKDA-Sanctioned Plan?
We break down when a mezzanine floor sits within an existing NKDA sanction and when it legally needs a revised plan, always pointing back to NKDA to confirm.
Building Guidelines
Building Next to New Town's Canals and Water Bodies: The Extra Setback You Need to Know
A plot facing one of New Town's canals or retention water bodies looks like a premium address, and it usually is, but it also comes with a buffer rule most first-time buyers never ask about.
Building Guidelines
EV Charging Points in New Town Homes: What NKDA's Building Rules Currently Allow
Every third New Town client now asks about an EV charger, and the honest answer is that the rules are workable today if you plan the electrical load early, and painful if you don't.
Hiring Guides
330+ Buildings Later: The New Town and Salt Lake Design Patterns We See Again and Again
330+ buildings across New Town and Salt Lake since 2014 taught us the design patterns, NKDA and Bidhannagar rules, and honest tradeoffs behind every hire-worthy project here.
Building Guidelines
Installing Rooftop Solar in New Town: The NKDA Sanction Step Most Owners Skip
Most New Town owners assume solar panels sit outside NKDA's paperwork entirely, and that assumption is only sometimes true, which is exactly the problem we want to walk through here.
Building Guidelines
Buying in an Under-Construction New Town Pocket: The Infrastructure Risk Checklist
A cheaper plot in a still-developing New Town pocket can be a smart bet or a headache, and the difference usually comes down to questions almost nobody asks HIDCO upfront.
Cost Guides
Cost of a Custom TV Unit with Storage for a 14 Ft Living Room Wall
We break down per running foot pricing for a custom carpentry TV unit across a 14 ft wall, based on the open shelving to closed cabinet ratio you pick.
Cost Guides
How Much Does It Cost to Hire an Interior Designer in New Town in 2026?
A straight, no-fluff breakdown of what it actually costs to hire an interior designer in New Town in 2026, from freelancer vs firm trade-offs to what our fee covers.
Design Inspiration
Downsizing Design: What Retirees Should Prioritize When Moving Into a Smaller Kolkata Flat
A decision framework we use with retired couples leaving a family house for a compact Kolkata flat, covering what to keep and how we plan for single-level living.
Seasonal & Trending
Griha Pravesh Muhurat Checklist for a New Town Kolkata Flat
Before your griha pravesh muhurat, a New Town flat needs specific things structurally and electrically ready, not just decorated, and we walk through exactly what.
Decision Guides
How Studio Contour Coordinates With NKDA, Societies and Contractors So You Don't Have To
Studio Contour has coordinated NKDA sanctions, society NOCs and contractors across 330+ New Town and Salt Lake buildings since 2014. Here's exactly how we run it.
Design Inspiration
Three Generations, One Flat: Room-Sharing Design for Joint Families in New Town
When grandparents, parents and kids share one New Town flat, the layout decision that matters most is which rooms sit next to which, not how many rooms you have.
Hiring Guides
Hiring an Interior Designer in Lake Town: A Practical Guide for New Buyers
Searching for an interior designer for your Lake Town flat? A practical, honest breakdown of freelancer vs firm, KMC approval quirks, and why Studio Contour's 330+ Kolkata projects since 2014 make the case.
Room Guides
Monochrome Master Bedroom Ideas for a Sector 5 Apartment
We map out a black, white, and grey master bedroom scheme built for the compact, working-professional apartments clustered around Salt Lake Sector 5.