Colaba, building type by building type
Colaba's housing splits into three worlds. The Causeway and Strand carry heritage-listed Deco and Edwardian blocks, several of them without lifts. Cusrow Baug and Jehangir Baug are private Parsi trust colonies with their own rules. And Navy Nagar is a defence cantonment where access is a security matter before it is a logistics one.
Causeway and Strand heritage blocks
1920s–1940s, Grade IIA and III listed. Deep balconies, Burma teak floors over timber joists, original steel casements and, in several, no lift at all.
Cusrow Baug and Jehangir Baug
Private trust colonies from the 1930s. Well-maintained, tightly governed, with their own written rules about what a resident may alter.
Navy Nagar
Defence housing. Access by service clearance, fixed worker lists, vehicle passes and a security regime that does not negotiate.
Post-1990 private towers
A small number of newer buildings on the Colaba side. Modern services, service lifts, fit-out manuals and the highest rates in the area.
Planning around Colaba
- Heritage listing governs the elevation absolutely. Windows, balconies, grilles, external paint colour and AC unit positions on Grade IIA and III buildings require conservation committee approval. Six to twelve weeks if you go that route, which is why we design inside the envelope instead.
- Navy Nagar clearance is a security process, not a formality. Worker lists, identity documents, vehicle passes, and no substitutions once approved. Three to five weeks, started before anything else.
- Burma teak floors sit on timber joists. In the 1930s blocks, what looks like a solid floor is planks on joists over a void. Stone counters, filled tubs and heavy partitions are calculated, and sometimes redesigned, rather than assumed.
- The Causeway is a hawker market from mid-morning. Deliveries run before 9am or after 9pm, with unloading agreed in advance. A tempo arriving at 1pm will not get near the building.
- Salt exposure here is the most severe in the city. SS 316 throughout, epoxy priming on every metal face, marine ply everywhere, and a coastal paint system. Brass and mild steel are excluded from the site entirely.
Design and build under one accountable roof in Colaba
What interiors cost in Colaba
Budget from ₹2,920 per sq ft upward. Premium sits at ₹3,890 and luxury at ₹4,870; the difference is hardware, stone and the amount of site-made joinery replaced by factory work. The band is drawn from completed work we have billed, priced at October 2026.
| Home | Usual carpet band | Essential ₹2,920/sq ft | Premium ₹3,890/sq ft | Luxury ₹4,870/sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1BHK / studio | 450–620 sq ft | ₹13.1 – 18.1 L | ₹17.5 – 24.1 L | ₹21.9 – 30.2 L |
| 2BHK (heritage block) | 850–1,150 sq ft | ₹24.8 – 33.6 L | ₹33.1 – 44.7 L | ₹41.4 – 56.0 L |
| 3BHK | 1,350–1,850 sq ft | ₹39.4 – 54.0 L | ₹52.5 – 72.0 L | ₹65.7 – 90.1 L |
| 4BHK / full floor | 2,200–3,200 sq ft | ₹64.2 – 93.4 L | ₹85.6 L – ₹1.24 Cr | ₹1.07 – 1.56 Cr |
Ex-GST; 18% applies on top. Civil work, appliances and loose furniture are excluded. Run your own carpet area through the cost calculator.
Heritage committee submissions, where externally visible work is proposed, add six to twelve weeks and ₹60,000 to ₹1.8 lakh in drawings, documentation and consultant fees. Most of our Colaba projects avoid them entirely by keeping the intervention internal, which is usually the better design answer as well.
How a Colaba site actually runs
This is the part of a quotation that separates studios who work here regularly from studios who do not.
| Constraint | The reality here | How we plan for it |
|---|---|---|
| Heritage approval | Grade IIA and III listing on much of the stock | Design kept inside the envelope; committee route only when unavoidable |
| Navy Nagar clearance | Security vetting of every worker and vehicle | Lists submitted three to five weeks ahead; no substitutions |
| Causeway market | Hawker congestion from mid-morning to late evening | Deliveries before 9am or after 9pm, agreed with the building in advance |
| Floor structure | Timber joists under teak planking in the 1930s blocks | Load calculations before any heavy element is designed in |
Why the Colaba spec differs
Below is the working spec we default to locally, with the reason attached to each line so you can argue with it.
| Element | What we specify | Why, here |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | SS 316 throughout; brass and mild steel excluded from site | The most severe salt exposure of any market we work in |
| Timber floors | Original Burma teak lifted, restored and re-laid where sound | Irreplaceable material and better than any substitute |
| Loads | Stone, tubs and partitions verified against joist capacity | Timber floors were not designed for modern wet-area loads |
| Windows | Original casements restored in situ; replacement needs heritage approval | Restoration is cheaper, better and does not need a committee |
| Paint | Coastal-rated system internally and externally | Ordinary emulsion fails within eighteen months at this exposure |
A typical Colaba programme
- Week 0–1 — survey, clearance, structureMeasure, establish the heritage grade and what that permits, lift a board to inspect the joists, and lodge Navy Nagar clearances if they apply. This phase is longer here than anywhere.
- Weeks 2–4 — design and BOQLayouts designed inside the envelope, with any heritage submission identified early enough to run in parallel rather than after.
- Weeks 5–7 — strip-out, floor and metal restorationCareful demolition, teak floor lifting and restoration, casement stripping and epoxy priming.
- Weeks 8–15 — joinery, ceiling, servicesMarine-grade joinery, services renewed, ceiling closed after testing. Night and early-morning deliveries throughout.
- Weeks 16–18 — finishes and handoverCoastal paint system, hardware, lighting, clean and snagging.
What clients here say
They lifted a floorboard on the first visit and found the joists. The whole kitchen was redrawn around what the floor could carry.
The clearance was submitted five weeks before we started. Not one worker was turned back at the gate in four months.
Colaba takes longer than anywhere else in this list and for good reasons: the buildings are listed, the clearances are real, and the sea is twenty metres away. Rushing any of the three is how projects here fail.
Services we deliver in Colaba
Residential interiors
Full-home design and build for 1–4BHK flats.
→Modular kitchens
BWP carcass, branded hardware, installed in days.
→Wardrobes and storage
Full-height joinery, lofts and worked corners.
→Turnkey projects
One contract, one date, one accountable team.
→
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
How much do interiors cost in Colaba?+
₹2,920–₹4,870 per sq ft of carpet area, marine specification included. An 850–1,150 sq ft heritage-block 2BHK is ₹24.8–33.6 lakh at an essential finish and ₹41.4–56.0 lakh at luxury, ex-GST. Heritage committee submissions, where needed, add ₹60,000–₹1.8 lakh and six to twelve weeks.
Do I need heritage permission to renovate in Colaba?+
Only for externally visible work — windows, balconies, grilles, external colour, AC unit positions — on Grade IIA and III listed buildings. Purely internal work does not need it. Most of our Colaba projects are designed to stay inside the envelope, which avoids a six- to twelve-week approval and usually produces a better result anyway.
How does access work in Navy Nagar?+
Through service clearance. Every worker is vetted with identity documents and every vehicle needs a pass, submitted three to five weeks in advance with a fixed list. Substitutions are not accepted, so we staff the job with a named crew and keep it unchanged for the duration.
Can I put a stone counter and a bathtub in a 1930s Colaba flat?+
Sometimes, and we calculate rather than assume. What looks like a solid floor in those blocks is Burma teak planking over timber joists with a void beneath. A full stone counter, a filled tub and a masonry partition on the same floor is a real load. We lift a board during the survey and design to what the joists will actually take.
When can material be delivered on the Causeway?+
Before 9am or after 9pm. From mid-morning the Causeway is a functioning hawker market and a delivery vehicle cannot reach the buildings. We agree the unloading point with the society in advance and run deliveries at either end of the day, which is one reason a Colaba programme is longer than an equivalent suburban one.