"It is something we poured our soul and heart into," says Anirudh Kankatala, third-generation custodian of a saree legacy that began in 1943. Step into Kalaa, the family's new store in Visakhapatnam, and you believe him.

Anirudh's oldest memory is of growing up inside a shop. The family's first store opened in 1965 in Vizag's old town and stayed until 1998 or 1999, with the family living right behind it. "I remember entering from the back door when the store shut at 8 o'clock," he says. Of course Kalaa was never going to be a regular store. It was always going to be a home.

Spread over 7,100 sq ft across two floors on Governors Bungalow Road in Siripuram, Kalaa sits where a saree flagship isn't supposed to, on a residential lane, a step away from the shopping streets, where a landlord once demolished his own house. That's the point. "We wanted people to come and discover Kalaa," says Anirudh, "not have it on the main shopping street with the hustle and bustle."

The walk in is a journey back to "a grandmother's house, or an old house in Andhra." A stone courtyard with a Nandi and a tulasi leads to brick-inspired clay flooring, then the courtyard of Kanchipurams, with blue pillars and a hand-painted roof of temples inspired by Simhachalam.

Beyond it sit two Banarasi counters, the store's version of gaddi seating. The Nandis are entirely handcrafted, the door is teak, and it all took about a year. Upstairs, a boat hangs mid-floor, a nod to Vizag's sea-faring life.

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Designer Devika Narain didn't want a showpiece. Her intent was "many spaces of intrigue, defined more by curiosity than grandeur." Nothing repeats, and nothing pounces on you. You find things than being shown them.

Then there's the blue, borrowed from the Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam, where the gopuram, its base and the doors are all blue. "Most interior projects begin with materials, form and function," says Devika. "This one began with colour, a vibrant blue," starting with the staircase and travelling to the pillars and facade. Anirudh is clear that it belongs to Kalaa alone, not the Kankatala brand.

The brief was simple, "It shouldn't be a transaction." So the drink is a family Nannari recipe, and the usual "what's your budget?" is gone, even though prices run from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh. When staff worried customers would be offended, Anirudh asked how often someone walks in with Rs 50,000 in mind and leaves with a Rs 20,000 saree they love. "Price doesn't really matter." The question now is, what occasion are you buying for?

Devika's team began as they would a wedding, with the guest experience, and spent time with the family. Invited home for lunch in Vizag, they found that "the women were cooking but all the men were serving." Her verdict, "It is clear the women are the muses of the brand." Those rituals now live in the store through fresh flowers, a gajra for everyone who walks in, a kolam outside. Chairs are comfortable because "nobody comes shopping alone for big occasions," a grandmother can join in the changing room, and the lift has a sofa bench. "Why should someone be standing in a lift?"

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Kalaa is one of the first permanent spaces from Devika's studio, which usually creates celebrations that last a day or a season. "Honestly, I am very curious to see how my work ages." Interiors, she says, "should not be trend-inspired. They should be classic."

And what should a visitor carry out of the door? "I want them to feel welcome. I want them to feel warm. And I want them to know that should they take something away, it is a piece of art."

Some shops sell sarees, Kalaa hands you a home, and a gajra to go with it.