A day earlier than the formal launch of The Charcoal Project (TCP) in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, Sussanne Khan and her crew are including the ultimate touches to the house. Spread over six flooring, it marks Sussanne’s foray into Hyderabad’s interior design scene, 14 years after founding TCP in Mumbai. One flooring options idea areas and product strains by Gauri Khan Designs.
Sussanne’s pleasure, tinged with a touch of nervousness, is obvious as she settles in for an interview on the fifth flooring, aptly named Barnhouse. Each stage tells a definite design story — however extra on that later.
Her entry into Hyderabad has been two years in the making. “My partners — Karan Bajaj, Nafees Ahmed and Rishabh Jain — approached me with the idea. They have high-end product lines in the audio-visual space, specialising in home theatres, automation systems, and kitchens (Audio & Beyond, Hacker, and Easy Kitchens). TCP integrates interiors with lighting, audio-visual, and technology-driven solutions,” she explains.
Memories of Hyderabad
Design runs in her DNA. Sussanne Khan based The Charcoal Project in Mumbai in 2011, armed with an affiliate artwork diploma in interior design from Brooks College, Long Beach, California, and invaluable hands-on expertise working alongside her mom, Zarine Khan. “My mother was an interior designer for nearly 35 years,” Sussanne recollects. As a toddler, she typically accompanied her mom on web site visits to Hyderabad. “I must have been five or six at the time. She designed a few properties here, and I was mesmerised by the colours.”
The six-floor retailer has thematic show of interior ideas and product strains
| Photo Credit:
Siddhant Thakur
However, after establishing her personal interior design enterprise, Sussanne hardly ever visited Hyderabad — till two years in the past, when she was approached with this venture. Frequent journeys to town adopted, the place she studied company, residential, and industrial areas, together with the native design panorama. “Hyderabad is a progressive city, and I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the people. There’s a distinct flair for luxury here. I felt it was the perfect market for my design aesthetic — quiet luxury with a fun vibe.”
Sussanne reveals that every one the curated furnishings and equipment at TCP Hyderabad have been designed in India. “Some of the embroidery and prints in the furnishings are inspired by birds, animals, and fruits from the Konkan coast, with motifs influenced by other regions as well. We’ve also designed a furniture collection inspired by tree branches, using metal and electroplated fibre to make it suitable for tropical climates. I think this line will resonate with Hyderabad’s spacious homes and lush gardens,” she says, describing her choice for fluid, natural shapes over sharp edges.
Ample pure gentle floods the interiors, a design alternative Sussanne credit to architect Rajiv Palshikhar and head designer Osama Patel. “We have an incredible design team, touchwood,” she says, attributing their inventive edge to a eager eye on world developments and travel-inspired influences. She additionally shares a private connection together with her crew, whom she fondly calls her ‘charcoal gladiators’. “Some of the carpenters and painters who worked with my mother now work with me — the next generation carrying forward the legacy.”
Thematic shows
One flooring showcases merchandise and ideas by Gauri Khan Designs
| Photo Credit:
Siddhant Thakur
While the Mumbai retailer, initially unfold over two flooring, downsized in the course of the pandemic by leasing one flooring to a retailer, the six-floor Hyderabad retailer offered a recent canvas. Sussanne and her crew designed every stage with a definite ethos — one devoted to equipment, one other showcasing kitchen and dwelling space ideas, a 3rd focussed on bedrooms and kids’s play areas, and one other integrating audio-visual and lighting methods. Some of the artworks are sourced from India, whereas others hail from Palm Springs, California.
Speaking about her collaboration with long-time pal Gauri Khan, Sussanne says, “I admire her sensibility and design aesthetic. We complement each other, and her designs offer customers a diverse range. She’s equally excited about entering this new territory.”
On a parting be aware, when requested in regards to the inspiration behind The Charcoal Project, she laughs and explains, “Every site I visit is grey and dark, like charcoal. When I ignite it with my energy and creative ideas, it lights up. That’s how the name came to be.”
Published – February 27, 2025 04:37 pm IST
