The old house at the site stood within a family estate, alongside three other residences belonging to the client's father and his siblings. The objective
was to fashion a new dwelling, while preserving the existing structure to accommodate the needs of the growing family. Adapting the original footprint posed
a formidable challenge, as the initial design catered to a modest family of four.
The revised mandate necessitated the creation of a vacation home, capable of comfortably hosting both our client's
family and their sister's family, when they visited their parents. Additionally, a paramount consideration in the design was to ensure that the ground floor
of the house provided a warm and inviting space for the parents, when they stayed alone, fostering an environment conducive to enhanced interactions with
their extended family members.
The architecture of the house is defined by the geometric lines of the sloping roof, that rests on a regular grid structure, in the middle of an organic
landscape. It is designed as a living breathing house, to create a comfortable microclimate, in the interiors. The secondary filigree layer made up of precast
concrete panels, create an intermediate semi-open living space that wraps around, and protects the main house. As the house had no boundary walls, it was als
important to create a layered inward-looking space, that provides privacy. The central living and dining area, acts as the focus of the house, opening out to
a water garden. The spaces around it flow continuously, between the functional blocks in and out of the house, so that the children can play and move around
freely, throughout the house without being confined by the walls. Four bedrooms are distributed on the two levels of the house to accommodate the needs of
the extended family, when required. The kitchen and a small work area was conserved from the original house, and refurbished to fit in the new house.
Interiors of the house are in muted tones with a minimal use of pastel shades as accents. The material palette is kept simple, with use of local wood,
breathable fabrics and handmade tiles. Metallic finishes like golden, silver and copper are used as highlighters to enhance the spaces. Though the theme
focuses on minimalism, carefully curated objects from the original house are retained, and used to define decor of the new house, along with other ethically
sourced antique pieces. Interior plantscape is kept minimal for easy maintenance, during vacations.
The chiseled house was one of our earliest renovation projects. The original house was constructed 13 years back and had used heavy ornamentation in its architectural expression. The layout had disjointed functions and lacked ventilation. We redesigned the house with a minimal architectural vocabulary based on the functional requirements. The skewed roof form is the outcome of a design process based on functional requirements and structural integrity. Layers of bamboo and other tropical planting, at different strategic points bring about passive cooling, and adds greenery to the house.
