What does it take to curate the skyline of a city like Mumbai? For Supratik Datta, Head of Design at SD Corp, the answer lies in a deep commitment to authenticity, a nuanced comprehension of urban living, and a design philosophy that embraces both chaos and tranquility. Ushering the creative vision of The Imperial Collective—a trailblazing group championing chic urban living—Supratik Datta leads the design narrative behind Mumbai’s most iconic addresses. From the landmark Imperial Tower to the elegantly sculpted Imperial Edge, and the highly anticipated Imperial i with an approach rooted in mindful urbanism, balancing innovation with intent. Maintaining the delicate balance between opulent living and tranquil sanctuary, Datta decodes the art of ‘livable luxury,’ the brilliance of linear layouts, and the evolving narrative of real estate in India.
Design Pataki: What does it truly mean to decode design within the realm of luxury real estate?
Supratik Datta: At SD Corp apartments are not merely an investment opportunity but an extension of one’s self. With that philosophy, we start the design process, which helps us in further decoding, our customer requirements.
Design Pataki: For 2025, what are the trends that you’re noticing with first time home buyers or buyers with multiple homes or designing spaces?
Supratik Datta: The most significant part that I’m looking at is like livable luxury—wherein you’re not designing your home for social media or trends, but for genuine comfort staying in that space. I think that’s the most important part of the evolved luxury. The second part is wellness-focused, where amenities provided cater specifically to wellness. The third is the seamless space between indoor and outdoor. So, these are the certain key trends that I look forward to for 2025 and the years ahead.
Design Pataki: What is your advice to first-time home buyers and for someone who’s designing their home for the first time?
Supratik Datta: Being authentic is paramount to define your style. Whether you prefer a maximalist or a minimalist style or anywhere in between, then look for the details because the devil lies in the details. Address all the senses—including the texture that evokes the touch and feel, how the space smells and bring in a dash of greengreen because I think that enlivens the space like nothing else. These are my couple of pieces of advices.
Design Pataki: Linear layouts seem to be a key element in your design approach. Could you elaborate on the principles behind them and why they’re important to your process?
Supratik Datta: Just to simplify the linear layout, you have a linear city like Mumbai which has the better views on one side so you try to incorporate all your livable areas—like living areas, bedrooms, dining areas—into one single layout which faces the better views. That’s the genesis of the linear apartment, where you get the better views, the cool breeze from the western side and the stunning views of the sunset.
Design Pataki: So, what you’re essentially saying is that the living room and bedrooms all face west and are aligned in a single line—is that the core idea behind the linear layout? And when we refer to it as such, should we assume that the columns and the entire structural design of the building are planned accordingly?
Supratik Datta: Correct. So, we make sure that there is no column within the living area—it’s a column free space with columns at the periphery. This also offers flexibility to shuffle spaces around and create areas as per one’s lifestyle. The linear layout and the structural design that we do, provides you with the flexibility to express yourself and modify the layout to the extent, that you can have the layout as per your choice. The linear layout along with the structural design that we do, ensures that you can change things around and customize the space according to your requirements.
Design Pataki: Another question I’m sure many people would have is—are linear layouts Vastu-compatible, given how important Vastu is to a lot of Indian homeowners?
Supratik Datta: Yes design can be made vastu compatible, we address the fact by choosing the area or the location where the linear apartment is going to come, and it can be made vastu compliant.
Design Pataki: How does luxury tie into this layout specifically? Is it about the unobstructed views from all the rooms, or is there more to it?
Supratik Datta: So that’s one part of it, as when we talk about luxury there are multiple layers to it, space itself for example is a luxury in a city like Mumbai. Then we layer it with the views and finally we are offering adaptability of the layouts—so if you want to host the most talked about party in the town the layout can adapt to it. Also, if somebody is looking to write the next novel, we have cozy corners for them as well, so the linear layouts are adaptable in my understanding as a designer, which allows the linear layouts to be versatile.
Design Pataki: Lifestyle seems to be at the core of your design narrative, especially when it comes to homebuyers seeking a well-balanced life. How have you integrated this focus into your planning over the years, and what is your take on that and how have you all developed that over the years?
Supratik Datta: I think over the years, Imperial i or Imperial for that matter was one of the first residential developments, which had a 80,000 square foot clubhouse. It was a part of the Imperial development itself, wherein there was a heated pool, gym, guest rooms and the restroom. So we have been catering to the lifestyle of the people or our customers who have bought in with us, through a club as an extension to the amenities that’s been provided under the umbrella of Imperial Collective.
Listen to the full episode here –
