Residential
Project details
S F Patil
"Simple and just right of its setting and climate, the house with its sloping roofs with a reinvented form and low cost hollow block is an appealing example of appropriate technology" reads the Inside outside magazine for this project when published.
The design truly follows a simple rule "of the earth, by the earth and for the earth". The design justifies the site profile and the location as the site faces south and is prone to direct sunlight, rain and extremes of nature.
The proposal was to deviate these extremes and yet make the house appear intune with the nature. This paved a way for the sloping roof with insulation of three layers, kadapa stone slabs, a thin layer of steel mesh and country tiles. The parts of the building's roof is cast in hollow slab blocks to insulate the interior spaces. Light and shadow play a major role in the interiors as the skylight lets in the majority of the light and hence, shadows are formed by the different levels created for the site profile. The walls are left un plastered which adds to the rustic nature of the design.
An internal courtyard, together with the waterbody and the grey granite of the pillars, breaks the monotony of the red clay walls and floor. Most of the furniture like beds and seating, is built-in, with simple cotton mattresses on top. The exterior has been left unfinished with the raw colour of clay blocks and country tiles, and rough stone for the compound walls, all craeting a rustic ambience.