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Architecture

2022

Photographer : Outoffocus

The site is located along a bustling highway in the urban fringes of Kollam, Kerala. Considering the impacts of the highway, the idea was to set the house within a tropical niche. The house was zoned towards the farther end of the site thus ensuring sufficient front yard to accommodate the landscape inserts.

The landscape inserts while announcing the point of arrival also aids in buffering and ensuring privacy within the open spaces of the house. It enhances visual appeal, regulates temperature, and reduces noise while being a visual barrier from the adjoining highway. It also opened the possibility to design an open plan with prominence for cross ventilation and natural lighting which is inevitable considering the humidity of the context.

The architecture style which is a contemporary blend of the traditional Kerala architecture weaves in well with the landscape setting. Terracotta sloping roof, exposed brick pseudo walls and earthy hues compliments the tropical landscape around. The pseudo walls, the entrance ivy along with landscape inserts complete the buffer planned from the highway.

This compact 4 bedroom residence is designed with minimum wall partitions to enhance cross ventilation and visually bigger interiors. The sky light between the entrance foyer and living room capitalizes on the north lights and shading from the sloping roof on the southern block. On site corrections were implemented to minimize direct sunlight passing through the skylight.

Two pocket courtyards are inserted aligning the entrance foyer and the dining room. These are designed as spillover spaces with necessary privacy for the inmates and guests. Family area and the reading room are zoned away from the highway. Indoor plants, rattan weaves, cane furniture and coir furnishing is an extension of the tropical features of design concept. Furnishing and the colors were hand picked to compliment the tropical narrative of the landscape design.