Overview
Flooring as narrative. Wood as warmth, not weight.
Shereef Residence is an ongoing residential project that explores the role of flooring and material balance in shaping everyday domestic spaces. The design places particular emphasis on the use of varied tile patterns to define zones and create visual continuity across the house.
A key challenge was the client's preference for extensive use of wood throughout the interiors. Rather than allowing the material to dominate, the design carefully moderates its presence — using wood selectively and purposefully to maintain warmth without visual overload.
Spatial Concept
Open, layered,
and quietly rooted.
The ground floor is designed as a continuous open landscape — living, dining, and kitchen zones flow together, separated only by changes in level and material rather than walls.
Folding timber-framed glass doors blur the boundary between inside and outside, flooding the space with natural light. A floating staircase with timber treads and glass balustrading becomes a sculptural centrepiece, visible from multiple levels of the home.
Arched timber openings and circular wall niches echo traditional Kerala interior motifs — grounding a contemporary palette in regional craft without resorting to nostalgia.
Material Story
Every tile tells
a story of making.
The flooring strategy is one of the most distinctive aspects of this project — combining large-format marble with bespoke inlaid mosaic runners, crafted through a precise water jet cutting process. What looks effortless on completion required intricate coordination at every stage.
Step 01
The Mosaic Field
Victorian octagonal mosaic tiles laid to define the main dining zone
Step 02
After Water Jet Cutting
Precise square voids cut into marble as per the design, ready for inlay
Step 03
Finished Inlaid Tile
Darker tile set into the cut voids — finished tile as per the design
Step 04
Corridor Runner Installation
Octagonal mosaic border runner laid through the hallway to guide movement
Step 05
The Completed Field
Full octagonal mosaic dining floor, framed by large-format marble
"Rather than allowing wood to dominate, the design carefully moderates its presence — using it selectively and purposefully to maintain warmth without visual overload."
Studio XZ — Design Proposal, 2024