Twin joys for Colaba

Anil Sarup 70 recalls watching the Arabian Sea from two sides of his apartment when he says ldquoIt was as close to us as Usha Sadan is todayrdquo Sarup is referring to a childhood spent in the more than 90 yearold twin buildings in Colaba Ashley House and Somerset House Like his fellow occupants he is basking in the afterglow of a recent restoration that the structures seated side by side have witnessed wrapped up in a record time of one year ldquoMy family has been here since 1947 This restoration has been a gift in perfect time for Christmas and new yearrdquo he says a giant decorated tree in his living room underlining the joyous moodMalad stone was used for the ground level and RCC for the upper four floorsThirty minutes earlier we had met the man who has overseen this transformation Mehernosh Mistry is part of Ewart Investment Ltd a subsidiary company of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd the owner of the twin buildings ldquoWe were clear that they would require the best restoration expertise Conserving our urban heritage is of paramount importance and key to retaining Mumbairsquos character We are its joint stakeholdersrdquo he had said in response to our query about the role of private entities in preserving a cityrsquos built heritageAlso read Mumbai Hawker licences will have to wait until new policyThe Art Deco font used at the entrance echoes the architectural trend of that timeSoon we were joined by Vikas Dilawari the UNESCO awardwinning conservation architect behind this project ldquoWe had a tight oneyear deadline and it was possible thanks to great team work and the freedom that Mr Mistry offered aided by Project Management Consultants PMC who provided expertise in delivering a faster turnaroundrdquo recalls Dilawari Rakesh Bhatia and Muthiah Subramanian of PMC share that Dilawarirsquos immaculate planning and their teamrsquos experience in heritage work together with inputs from Tata Consulting Engineers TCE ensured that they stayed on track En route to this seaswept leafy corner of Colaba Dilawari had listed out the prime challenges ldquoThe site is occupied by affluent residents we had to account for controlling the noise Besides we were just emerging from the pandemic and the 50odd labourers had to follow social distancing normsrdquoViews of the restored seafacing facade and bottom right of the original garagesThe two buildings are joined by a large compound it is a ground floor structure with four storeys with the topmost floor capped by a Mangalore tile roof ldquoIts uniqueness lies in its cantilever projection all around a rarity in Mumbairsquos buildingsThe rear facade required serious interventions due to disparate grills and inconsistent or damaged chajjasThe RCC chajjas which were the structuresrsquo design strength posed the biggest challenge since they had begun to corrode owing to their proximity to the sea It restoring the roofs was like doing surgery while keeping the occupants below comfortable Plus the weather wasnrsquot kind we had already witnessed two cyclonesrdquo He credits contractor Rajesh Murkar Ashok Kulkarni and structural consultant Anil Deshpande for their supportGlass barriers invisible nets standardised grills and louvers have transformed the rear facadeAs we crane our necks to study the scale of the endeavour we notice that not just the roof but the corroded RCC chhajjas across all balconies and windows across the structuresrsquo three facades have been reconstructed In fact the openings across the rear and western faccedilades had no protection to begin with These are now protected by sleek overhanging eaves of bison board and teakwood framing Near the rear faccedilade subtle interventions include the louvers that now ensure better ventilation and soften the blow of rain They also cleverly conceal the split air conditioning units that dot the outer wallsVikas Dilawari and Mehernosh MistryAlmostinvisible nets keep the birds out while glass barriers across the ground level railings keep rats and cats at bay ldquoAll previous repair work by MHADA hadnrsquot done justice to the buildingsrsquo legacy The tenants are pleasedrdquo smiles a satisfied Mistry Now if only more of Mumbairsquos landlords owning structures and establishments of similar historicity would follow suit