Starting from a bare shell
Most G Block apartments at this level are handed over as a shell or with a base finish that the buyer strips. That is an advantage — nothing to work around — and it moves work forward in the programme that a renovation would not have.
- Partition layout is yours from the start. Non-structural internal walls can be set where the design wants them, subject to the building's approval where a wet area moves.
- Services are designed, not adapted. Electrical distribution, data, lighting circuits, water and drainage are laid out to the final plan rather than negotiated around an existing installation.
- Floor build-up is a decision, not a constraint. Stone, timber and carpet zones can be set out to a single finished floor level with no thresholds, which is difficult to achieve in a renovation.
- Ceiling zones are coordinated once. Cooling, sprinklers, smoke detection, lighting, curtain tracks and speakers are laid out on a single coordinated drawing before anything is fixed.
- Everything takes longer to start. A shell apartment needs a complete drawing set before site work begins, which is six to ten weeks of design that a renovation can overlap with demolition.
The two building constraints that shape the design
- Central plant, and therefore a cooling strategy you do not fully control. These towers run central systems with building-managed controls. You cannot add a split unit, relocate an indoor unit freely or exceed the apartment's allocated cooling capacity. On a luxury fit-out with a lot of glass, a media room and a wine store, that allocation has to be checked against the calculated load in week one — and where it is short, the conversation with the building happens before the ceiling is designed, not after.
- Everything arrives in a booked slot. A 3.2 metre book-matched stone slab, a 2.8 metre glass panel, a made-to-order chandelier: each is a scheduled movement with a security pass, an escorted route and usually a night window. In the costing below, the stone for the principal bathroom and the kitchen island is hoisted across three consecutive nights, with the schedule for those nights fixed eleven days ahead.
Worked example: 4,000 sq ft apartment, G Block
| Package | ₹ lakh | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Design, lighting consultant and full documentation | 24.6 | Shell-up drawing set; coordinated services and ceiling drawings |
| Shell preparation, partitions, MEP and BMS coordination | 32.4 | Cooling load verified against the apartment's allocation before design freeze |
| Joinery, bespoke cabinetry and metalwork | 112.8 | Full-height throughout; a fitted dressing room and a library wall |
| Ceilings and lighting installation | 38.6 | Coordinated with sprinklers and detection; every access panel detailed |
| Stone and flooring | 41.2 | Book-matched imported stone; single finished floor level, no thresholds |
| Specialist wall finishes and panelling | 18.4 | Fabric, timber and plaster finishes across the principal rooms |
| Five bathrooms and a powder room | 28.5 | Imported brassware; stone hoisted in night slots |
| Automation, audio-visual and controls | 10.8 | Lighting, shading, audio and climate on one interface |
| Logistics, estate charges, night working and contingency | 4.7 | Booked lifts, passes, escorted routes, protection |
| Total, ex-GST | 312.0 | ₹7,800 per sq ft on 4,000 sq ft carpet |
Add 18% GST. Excludes art and loose furniture. Programme was thirty-two weeks, of which the first nine were design and long-lead procurement from a bare shell.
Large apartments inside a building that runs on bookings
When the apartment is an asset rather than a home
A meaningful share of BKC's best apartments are held by companies or let on long corporate leases, and that changes how luxury should be built. The finish level stays high; the construction method does not stay the same. Joinery is scribed and mechanically fixed rather than bonded, services run in concealed trunking behind cabinetry rather than chased into walls, partitions are demountable systems, and stone is fixed with a method that allows it to be removed. It costs eight to twelve per cent more at fit-out. At the end of a lease with a reinstatement clause it saves several times that, and we issue the reinstatement schedule with the handover file so the number is known from day one rather than discovered at exit.
The last BKC-specific point is documentation. On a project of this size in a building of this kind, the as-built set is not a formality — it records where every service runs behind a finished surface, which matters the first time something has to be accessed and matters enormously at reinstatement. We issue it with the handover file alongside the operation and maintenance information, warranties and the building's own sign-offs.
For the district see interior designers in BKC; for the residential market generally see residential interior designers in BKC. Our high-specification practice citywide is on luxury interior designers in Mumbai.
High-specification apartment work by Greenbox Design Studio.
Frequently asked questions
Why is BKC more expensive than Juhu at the top of the market?+
Across the market, ₹5,500–₹11,000 per sq ft against ₹4,800–₹9,000, and the difference is not craftsmanship. It is specification level — these are new apartments fitted out entirely from a shell with imported material throughout — plus delivery. Booked lifts, security passes, escorted routes and night slots for heavy items add real cost to a project with a great deal of stone and glass in it.
Can I increase the air conditioning in a BKC apartment?+
Only within the building's central system and your apartment's allocated capacity. You cannot add a split unit or freely relocate indoor units. On a luxury fit-out with large glazing, a media room and a wine store, the calculated load frequently exceeds the allocation, and that conversation has to happen with the building in week one, because the answer sets the ceiling design.
How do large stone slabs get into these apartments?+
In booked service-lift slots, usually at night, with passes lodged days in advance and an escorted route through the building. For a G Block apartment the principal bathroom and kitchen island stone is hoisted across three consecutive nights, scheduled eleven days ahead. A supplier who has not worked in these towers will assume a morning delivery and lose a week finding out.
Should a leased apartment be built differently?+
Yes, if the lease has a reinstatement clause, which most corporate BKC leases do. The finish level stays the same; the method changes — mechanically fixed joinery, concealed trunking instead of chasing, demountable partitions, removable stone fixing. It adds eight to twelve per cent at fit-out and saves several times that at exit. We issue a reinstatement schedule with the handover file.
How long does a bare-shell apartment take?+
Twenty-eight to thirty-six weeks, of which the first six to ten are design and long-lead procurement before any site work. A shell gives you complete freedom and takes that freedom out of the programme at the front, because nothing can start until the coordinated services and ceiling drawings are complete.