What Marine Lines is built of
Marine Lines runs from the Drive back to Princess Street and Charni Road. The seafront buildings are the 1930s Deco ensemble — curved balconies, banded parapets, terrazzo lobbies. Behind them are Gujarati and Jain co-operative buildings of the same era and a denser, more commercial grain around the market streets.
Marine Drive Deco frontage
1930s Art Deco apartments in the UNESCO-inscribed ensemble. Curved balconies, original terrazzo, steel casements, and external appearance protected in full.
Churchgate-side co-operatives
Contemporaneous buildings a street back. Same construction, same materials, without the ensemble listing on the elevation.
Princess Street and market-side blocks
Denser 1930s–50s buildings with commercial ground floors, smaller flats and harder access.
Chowpatty edge
Older buildings toward the beach with direct sea exposure and the associated corrosion profile.
Site conditions in Marine Lines
- The ensemble listing protects the appearance, not the inside. Balcony lines, parapets, window proportions, external colour — all fixed. The interior is yours, and that is where the entire design effort goes.
- Original Deco material is worth keeping. Terrazzo floors, chromed ironmongery, curved plaster cornices and the built-in cupboards of the period are frequently in better condition than anything a budget would replace them with. We survey for restoration before pricing removal.
- Sea exposure on the frontage is direct. SS 316 on exposed fittings, epoxy priming on all metalwork, BWP throughout on the sea-facing rooms. A street back it moderates noticeably.
- Event closures remove dates from the calendar. The marathon, major public events and periodic security closures shut the Drive to vehicles. Those dates come out of the delivery programme at the start.
- Service entries are narrow and rear access is limited. Most of these buildings have one lift and a back stair sized for 1935. Panel sizes and delivery sequencing follow from that, not from the design.
Design and build under one accountable roof in Marine Lines
What you will pay in Marine Lines
Interior work in Marine Lines is priced per square foot of carpet area: ₹2,620 essential, ₹3,470 premium, ₹4,380 luxury. Carpet, not built-up and not RERA carpet plus balcony. Those rates come from completed homes we have invoiced, restated at October 2026.
| Configuration | Typical carpet area | Essential ₹2,620/sq ft | Premium ₹3,470/sq ft | Luxury ₹4,380/sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1BHK | 450–620 sq ft | ₹11.8 – 16.2 L | ₹15.6 – 21.5 L | ₹19.7 – 27.2 L |
| 2BHK (Deco) | 800–1,100 sq ft | ₹21.0 – 28.8 L | ₹27.8 – 38.2 L | ₹35.0 – 48.2 L |
| 3BHK (sea-facing) | 1,250–1,700 sq ft | ₹32.8 – 44.5 L | ₹43.4 – 59.0 L | ₹54.8 – 74.5 L |
| Full floor | 1,900–2,600 sq ft | ₹49.8 – 68.1 L | ₹65.9 – 90.2 L | ₹83.2 L – ₹1.14 Cr |
Exclusive of 18% GST. Loose furniture, appliances and any structural work are separate lines. Try your own numbers in the interior cost calculator.
Restoring original Deco terrazzo runs ₹110–₹190 per sq ft against ₹350–₹600 for good new stone laid on a levelled bed, and the terrazzo is the better floor. The same logic applies to the ironmongery, the casements and the built-in Deco cupboards. In this stock, restoration is both the cheaper and the correct answer more often than not.
Access and site logistics in Marine Lines
Every site has a logistics problem; this one has a particular shape. Here is how we handle it.
| Constraint | The reality here | How we plan for it |
|---|---|---|
| Ensemble protection | UNESCO-inscribed frontage; external appearance fixed | All design internal; original external elements restored in place |
| Event closures | Marathon, public events and security closures on the Drive | Affected dates removed from the delivery programme at the outset |
| Service access | One lift and a 1935 back stair in most buildings | Panels sized to the stair turn; knock-down joinery as standard |
| Salt | Direct exposure on the frontage, moderating one street back | Marine specification written to the building, not the postcode |
Specification decisions for Marine Lines
A specification is a set of trade-offs against a particular place. These are ours for this one.
| Element | What we specify | Why, here |
|---|---|---|
| Terrazzo | Original in-situ floors ground, honed and sealed | Denser and flatter than new stone, at a third of the cost |
| Ironmongery | Original chromed Deco hardware stripped and re-plated | Re-plating costs a fraction of replacement and matches the building |
| Casements | Restored in situ; replacement would breach the ensemble protection | Original section is heavier than any modern equivalent |
| Hardware | SS 316 on sea-facing rooms; SS 304 one street back | Exposure drops sharply behind the frontage line |
| Cornices | Original curved plaster profiles repaired, not replaced with GRP | Hand-run plaster reads differently from a moulded substitute |
Programme for a Marine Lines project
- Week 0–1 — survey, restoration audit, listing checkMeasure, test-patch the terrazzo, assess the ironmongery and casements, and confirm exactly what the ensemble protection covers on your building.
- Weeks 2–4 — design and restoration scheduleA design that sits inside the original fabric, with restoration and replacement priced side by side so you can see both.
- Weeks 5–7 — strip-out, restoration worksCareful demolition of later accretions, terrazzo grinding, casement stripping and re-plating of the ironmongery.
- Weeks 8–14 — joinery, services, ceilingNew joinery detailed to sit with the original rather than against it; services fully renewed.
- Weeks 15–17 — finishes and handoverPaint, hardware refit, lighting, clean and snagging.
Two Marine Lines clients, in their words
The terrazzo came up like new for a third of what stone would have cost. They also re-plated the original door handles, which we had assumed were rubbish.
They knew exactly which parts of the building were protected and which were not. The other studio wanted to change the windows, which would never have been allowed.
Marine Lines is a restoration brief with a sea view. The best decisions here are subtractive: take out what was added in 1985 and bring back what was there in 1938.
Work we do across Marine Lines
Design and build
A single team from first drawing to handover.
→Kitchens
BWP boxes, quartz or granite counters, soft-close throughout.
→Bedrooms and storage
Wardrobes, dressers, beds and study joinery.
→Whole-flat renovation
Strip-out, services, joinery, finishes, snagging.
→
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What is the interior cost at Marine Lines?+
₹2,620–₹4,380 per sq ft of carpet. An 800–1,100 sq ft Deco 2BHK is ₹21.0–28.8 lakh at an essential finish and ₹35.0–48.2 lakh at luxury, ex-GST. Restoration of original terrazzo, casements and ironmongery is quoted separately and usually reduces the total.
What does the UNESCO listing actually restrict?+
The external appearance of the ensemble — balcony lines, parapet bands, window proportions, external colour. It does not restrict your interior at all. In practice that means all of the design effort goes inside, windows are restored rather than replaced, and nothing is added to the elevation. It is a clearer rule to work with than most heritage grades.
Is the original terrazzo worth saving?+
Nearly always. In-situ terrazzo from the 1930s is denser and flatter than most new stone, and grinding, honing and sealing it runs ₹110–₹190 per sq ft against ₹350–₹600 for a good new floor. We test-patch a square metre during the survey so you can see what comes up before deciding.
Can original Deco door and window hardware be reused?+
Usually. Chromed brass ironmongery from the period strips and re-plates well and costs a fraction of buying reproduction equivalents, which never quite match. We remove, catalogue and send it for re-plating during the strip-out phase and refit it at the end.
Do events on Marine Drive affect the programme?+
They remove specific dates. The marathon, large public events and periodic security closures shut the Drive to vehicles entirely, and a delivery booked for one of those days is a wasted day. We mark them onto the programme at the start and schedule around them.