The H-Cube House in Surat strikes a contemporary and modern note in a nondescript urban milieu. Bagged with the help of positive word of mouth, this assignment came almost immediately on the heels of a larger villa project that was more than 10 times the scale of the present project. And that was precisely what was attractive and challenging: its compact size. The site was a 35’ x 35’ corner property in a densely populated community of urban Surat. The square dimension meant the absence of a long axis that could have otherwise been used as a base for spatial articulation. The exercise thus became centered around as much creating a good space as proving to ourselves that we had the capability of surmounting the challenges posed by a small scale and its detailing.
The footprint of the house, after leaving out regulation setbacks, was approximately 25’ x 25’. Within this square was a setup grid that finally yielded three rectangular blocks: two of 10’ x 25’ and one of 5’ x 25’, with the smaller block allotted to circulation, services, and storage. The house can be accessed via a discreet, tunnel-like, and narrow staircase nestled between the wall of an elevated garden block and that of the structure, a deliberate attempt to move away from the open-to-public-view staircases seen otherwise, with little or no thought behind their design.
Architecturally, the form is derived by cutting up the structure (specifically, the levels that house the living spaces) into four cubes, and shifting one quarter (on the upper level) out, to create a cantilevered block. A shift in material (concrete as opposed to white paint) distinguishes this volume further. Within it, is housed the master bedroom. The elevation also strikes an equilibrium between solidity and lightness; opacity and transparency. Below the cantilevered concrete block of the master bedroom, for instance, is a long L-shaped puncture spanning the two walls of the living room.
The internal zonal articulation is also as simple, with a distinct horizontal delineation of semi-private and private zones. The semi-private zone (living room, kitchen, and dining) is housed on the lower level, with two bedrooms being situated on top. The street level is devoted to a car park. The constituent spaces of the semi-private zone are arranged in a C, with the dining forming the connecting element between the other two. The living room and the kitchen are separated by a large storage block that can be accessed from all four sides. On the level above lie two bedrooms on either side of a landing.