URBAN HOUSE

As the name suggests, this house not only responds to the aspirations of the users, but also to the local climate, site surroundings and the concerns of privacy from the neighboring houses.

DESIGN BRIEF

The name of the house R A A N U  (also known as heaven in Sanskrit)  is derived from initials of Rahul & Anuradha, a simple, loving & caring couple. The aim for this project was to develop an architectural expression that harmonizes it’s surroundings with the built form over time, not only in terms of an architectural language, but also with respect to spatial quality.

The house is designed for this middle aged couple, their teenage children and an elderly mother. It consists of ample of parking space, 6 bedrooms, home-theatre room, wellness toilet, and a party terrace considering their requirement to cater to the spatial needs for entertaining close relatives and a vibrant friend circle.

With the increasing urbanization followed by dearth of open spaces, the ever-growing need for good healthy environment has become the necessity of today’s time.

It’s more challenging for an architect to pack all these requirements into a tight plot and yet make it livable, green and open. Typically in urban context, where the distance between the two adjacent houses is inadequate for light and ventilation as well as privacy, the design strategies have been evolved to address these urban issues.

The idea was to have a easy to build, easy to construct and most importantly spaces which respond to climate, capturing natural light and ventilation in innovative ways and integrating the indoors and outdoors which help in the psychological well- being of the users.

The house sits on a narrow width plot of 46’x 92’ admeasuring 4300 sq.ft. and a total built- up area of 5000 sq.ft, located in a plotted layout, accessed by a 9.0 m wide road on the south east. The plot is surrounded by neighboring houses on the sides and society boundary wall towards the north east side. 

The house is divided into five levels, viz: 

1. Stilt parking and ancillary areas on the ground floor.

2. Semi public zone  like the living, dining, kitchen, utility and a guest bedroom on the first floor.

3. The private zone is stacked in the middle level to have maximum privacy and protection from the heat on the second floor.

4. The recreational zone i.e the public zone comprising of Home theatre room, wellness room, wellness toilet, Bar pantry and a party terrace is situated on the third floor.

5. All the services like the Photo Voltaic Solar panels, Air-conditioning VRF system, heat pump and the pressure pumps are located at the top terrace floor.

S P A T I A L   O R G A N I Z A T I O N A N D   C L I M A T I C R E S P O N S E

The spatial organisation and the form responds to the climatical concerns by providing adequate shading and blocks the harsh western and southern sun. 

The glass window openings to the house are appropriately located, so that they adequately shade and bring diffused light into the interior spaces and facilitate  good cross ventilation.

This transparency allows the interior spaces to stay connected with the greenery outside all the time. The central staircase-well unifies all the floors visually and audibly.

The glass skylight at the top of this staircase-well is fitted with a self spinning turbo fan which helps in evacuating the trapped hot air and facilitates cool breeze from outside. The light received from the skylight creates an interesting play of light and shadow throughout the day.

M A T E R I A L S   A N D   T E C H O N O L O G Y

The modern vocabulary of the house delicately transits into the interior spaces, which is designed with a blend of traditional material palette.  The wood finish adds to the warmth against the backdrop of white walls and mirror polished natural stone flooring. The material and the color palette is kept simple so as to finely blend itself with the green surroundings.

10 KW solar photo voltaic panels provided on the top terrace generate around 1200 units per month which takes care of around 70% of the electricity requirement of the whole house further reducing the dependency on artificial energy sources.

Every raindrop falling inside the plot is channelized to the borewell pit, which helps in increasing the ground water table.

The elegance of the design of this house lies in its simplicity and the harmony of traditional and contemporary elements. A home that allows its occupants to live a life in synergy with of nature, in touch with the seasons and with spaces to entertain family and friends.