Text Provided by: J. George
The Clients (a couple working as IT engineers) presented an
extremely narrow site in Thiruvanthapuram as part of their design brief. The
inherent challenge was in accommodating a generous 117 sq.m. of built-up area
on the elongated 283 sq.m. site, which upon excluding mandatory setbacks on the
sides, elicits just 4.8 m (or a mere room-width) of working clearance.
The resultant design solution delivered living, dining, and kitchen areas on
the Ground Floor along with an ensuite bedroom. The First Floor accommodated
the ensuite master bedroom with balcony and a walk-in wardrobe, a living room
for the Client to conduct mridangam (percussion instrument) classes,
as well as an additional ensuite bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe, which
could also alternatively function as a Study.
A full-sized car porch was not achievable given the paucity of plot space, but
alternatively a partially covered nook was devised affording all-weather access
from the car to the front door. Despite the narrowness of the building envelope
the interior spaces did not compromise on the ingress and movement of light and
air circulation. The design also took advantage of the longitudinal slope of
the site via stepped-down floor plate following the natural contours of the
land, and in the process optimised on foundation costs.
On entering the house, one is welcome by a internal courtyard whose verdant
green foliage are bathed with natural light from the overhead skylight feature.
This miniature ‘oasis’ provide the emotive focus, visually connecting living
room and dining space on its either side. The minimalistic staircase in
exposed concrete wraps around the green space leading upwards, whilst also
providing visual interest via its restrained contrasting of recesses and quiet
protuberances.
The kitchen is located towards the rear of the site, and sited at a lower
level. The careful use of vertically expanded internal volumes where possible,
and of a mutually inter- flowing functional triad of spaces such as the living,
dining and kitchen (and tied together vertically by the concrete
stairwell)successfully negates any perception of the volumetric constrictions
from the narrow building and site envelopes. The double-height
configuration of the dining room connects with the upper floor plan, and
accentuates the overall visual experience of the building. The light-touch
minimalist approach also finds expression in the various interior design
elements like wardrobes, shelving, fenestrations etc– all pared back to the
bare minimum required. The bedrooms- through with careful space planning,
though small have space for sleeping as well as integrated study area and
walk-in wardrobes.
The upper floor living room with its roof-mounted skylight endows the space
with a warm character to complement its intended use as an informal mridangam training
space. The upper floor master bedroom opens out to a balcony with louvers
providing privacy and cool breezes, and an invigorating interplay of light and
shadows across the day. This house showcases the power of purposeful
spatial design and planning to deliver deft functionality and charm, even in
appreciably constrained plots.
Login with Google 
Login with Facebook 