The Perched House stands true to its name; wherein the first floor mass hangs effortlessly on the ground floor, forming a minimal and indulging architectural elevation. The house rests in a modest plot size of 6800 sft. The dwelling of 3 bedrooms, common spaces and an entertainment room takes upto 6000 sft in its built form.
A house is not just the elevation but also the planning. Much time had gone into planning the house such that everything is well-connected vertically and horizontally as well as keeping the house naturally well lit and ventilated. This thought formed the idea of having a double height space as the heart of the house. This south-west facade opened up to the margin courtyard on the outside and was a dining room in the inside. The open floor plan on the ground floor meant that only the bedroom was enclosed, while all the remaining common spaces were visually and physically well connected by partition screens and glass partitions.
As you park your car against the travertine wall, which forms an integral part of the elevation as well, you are taken to the intimate entrance vestibule with a small water body and interesting sciography patterns formed by the screen in the elevation. Upon entering the house, you are welcomed by the partition screen on one side and a drawing room enclosed with glass partition on the other. The drawing room opens up to the landscaped garden on the Northern side, keeping this space naturally lit. Once past the partition screen, you walk towards the heart of the planning; the double height dining space and open planned living and kitchen around it. The same sciographic patterns continue throughout the central part of the house, formed by the architectural screen on the outside. One bedroom with attached toilet and dress completes this floor.
The planning is such that the entire central portion of the house is double height, forming a dining space along with circulation areas overlooking it. The first floor is minimally planned with 2 bedrooms with attached dress and toilets and one entertainment room, big enough to be converted into a bedroom for future purposes. The master suite takes up the maximum floor plate with the bedroom alone being 15' wide and 29' long. This along with a lavish dress and bath space of 15' wide and 15' long fulfils the client's requirement. Each of the 3 rooms gets its private balcony to enjoy the outdoors. While the master bedroom gets the biggest chuck overlooking the Northern garden, the entertainment room gets a front facing Juliette balcony and the childrens bedroom gets a more intimate space.
The perched elevation is formed by a simple material palette of textured surfaces, a bold travertine stone wall, corten steel, metal framings, wooden screens and glass windows. The screen is decidedly placed such that it would form an interesting play of light and shadow during different time of the day in different areas of the house, making the house feel alive and ever changing.