‘An Engineer should design a structure that an architect would be ashamed to cover up’. - Bill Baker, Partner - SOM

As a designer, this project was one such rare opportunity, where the client himself is able to contribute in the design process to reach levels of synergy which is unthinkable for both as individuals - the Architect and the Client. ‘The Engineer’s House is a case where the Client, a brilliant mechanical engineer and a global leader in the manufacturing of very high-end diamond process-related machines, offered all his knowledge and infrastructure to the Architect’s disposal. In the first meeting itself, we agreed to a vision of creating a house that pushes the limit of architectural design, through meaningful engineering resolutions to issues. The conventional paradigms of door closer, ceiling fan, swing, elevator, geothermal cooling, louvers, and lot of other elements were questioned and the outcome is truly noteworthy. However, for us, the success of the project, lies in the fact, that none of these mammoth product design and development exercises, came in the way of creating such wonderful living spaces for an equally wonderful family consisting of four persons. In fact, each of these engineering marvels enhanced the overall experience of having a great family and personal time for each family member. The entire house is also a journey to do everything that is right and sustainable in true sense.

The 1400-square-yard plot is part of a closed gated society in the newly developed areas of Surat. It's a corner plot, located right across the common garden space of the society, with roads on the South and the East. Spatially, the four-bedroom villa is organized around two open spaces - the public lawns and the private courtyard. The public block consists a single glass box housing the living room, dining area, the kitchen and the elevator transporting one to the first-floor family room. It is flanked by long verandah spaces on both sides, allowing circulation and climatic comfort. A slightly inclined copper box floats over the dining area, which houses the family room.  Beyond the public block, one climbs a few steps to get into the private realm, which has four bedrooms built around a courtyard. The praying space is the culmination of the circulation tunnel which runs along the public block and then through the private zone. 

In terms of materiality, the house is wedded to a palette that is natural and far away from anything synthetic. The paint-free shell of the house is constructed in form of finished concrete. The interesting texture has been achieved by creating fiber molds out of crumpled aluminum foils, and creates equally beautiful drama in the day and night, responding to the light falling onto it from different directions.  The floor is a combination of large-sized polished and leather-finished Kotah Stone. Rest is all-natural anodized aluminum, glass, black granite and teak wood. Copper sheets have been used to define the axial movement tunnel and the floating family room. Bright-colored compact laminate sheets have been used in some doors to add sharp accents in an otherwise monotone grey-silver house.

The site at Surat is just about 10 km from the Arabian Sea and experiences a Hot and Humid climate. As a response to that, the North and South of each space including the four bedrooms has an indigenously designed operable louvers system with an openable layer of glass, from wall to wall. This allows a wonderful connection with the landscape, and an incessant draft of breeze flowing across the rooms. One practically feels like living on the ‘Otta’ all the time. These louvers control the amount of light, wind, rain, and dust entering the space; and also keep burglars out all the time. The idea has been taken one step further in the living block, where the entire louver frames get manually lifted to become a pergola, reminiscent of a bird opening up its wings. Very interesting user-friendly mechanisms for lifting and locking the louvers have been engineered using a number of gears and levers.