“A house is made of bricks and beams,
But a home is made of hopes and dreams!”
Taking under consideration the site and its offerings, our pivotal decision was in the favour of the environment. The site bestowed us with 20 fully grown and healthy trees of varied species. It was our firm decision to preserve this asset. This 9100 Sq. Ft plot was just adjoining to the society road and stood opposite to an open ground. The site was a “T” shaped area which was formed by a combination of 1 narrow rectangle and 2 small squares. The positioning of trees was the main challenge. We were losing a lot of margin and horizontal expansion was not possible. Thus we ended up designing along the vertical axis and not disturb the existing trees.
The genesis being conservation of the trees, the design principles were taken into account. The decision being bold and challenging, we had to add one more feature in support to our ideology. We planned to provide a terrace garden on the first floor which would completely stand on a cantilever slab supported structurally with concrete bracings, where-in we would utilize the foliage of the trees with low level barricades around the trunk. This would make the trees, immortal members of the family. Another idea was to provide terrace garden on each floor as a spill out space.
Basic requirements of the client were 6 bedrooms, a home theatre, servant quarters and a dog house. Complimentary essential spaces include the kitchen, family area, pooja room and dining area. Additional features were terrace garden, Zen garden and a fantasy bathroom. The designing was done in a way that the front block contained public spaces such as living room on the ground floor and home theatre on the first. On top of that was the Zen garden. There was a narrow passage along with the stair-well which connected the front block to the private block behind.
Talking about the elevation of the residence, we have tried to create dynamic fusion of exposed concrete, exposed bricks and the foliage of the trees. In the front façade there is grand concrete cantilever which holds the terrace garden on top and shades the parking on the ground level. A mild use of customised corten steel jali has been made in the east and west, in order to cast an interesting sciagraphy in the interior spaces. The rustic look of these jalis compliments the exposed materials in elevation. In the east that is the front elevation, the jali has a customised design of Sanskrit scripts, where-as in the west that is the back elevation, the jali has the design of a feather in sync with the name of the bungalow- “MADHAV”, installed in order to hide all the services of the bathrooms.
Journey of the entire abode is subtle, lucid and experiential. In the flooring, a majestic play of inlay has been incorporated by customising the designs. Mother of pearl has been consumed as the inlay material. The essence of this inlay has been retained by not making it common to all the areas; rather, its application is made only in special spaces. Taking ground floor into discussion, it includes functions like the living room – opening up into the garden, a pooja room, kitchen, a double-heighted dining area, mother’s room and a guest bedroom. The living room is effervescent and bright in terms of colour coding and artefacts. The flooring is laid with white marble. Pooja room is a double height space standing right adjoining to the living area where on the eastern wall is a long vertical slit with stained glass in it. When the morning rays fall over it, the room turns into a peaceful place perfectly appropriate to meditate and pray. The flooring is white marble inlayed with mother of pearl and that adds to the royalty. An open to sky courtyard housing a dense mango tree, is an element of linkage between the living room and the dining area. This area has naturally been transformed into a second family room. It stays cool throughout the day even in the scorching afternoons of summer. The flooring is a fine combination of jesalmer and kota stone with a rounded seating around the trunk of the tree.
There is a passage connecting the living room and pooja room to the rest of the ground floor functions. It is well illuminated with the day light, captured from the open courtyard, where-as during the night time, there is a very dramatic play of lights by the articulated light fixtures. This passage leads to the double-heighted dining area which has a backdrop of the famous paintings by artist Krishna Mehta (India Circus), adorned in a very cultural manner, by combining with wooden antique frames and diffused lighting. The adjoining wall acts as a function along with its high aesthetic value. It is an acoustic feature, show-cased in very thoughtful and designer way. Taking inspiration from the legendary painter S.H. Raza, we have utilized fabrics of vibrant colours to create a double-heighted vertical designer panel with geometric patterns, hiding the acoustical materials behind the coloured fabric. The area being the most highlighted one, a magnanimous chandelier of “Spacio” with handmade glass and brass which has been imported from Denmark, holds its place in the center of the space, adding up to the elegance.
Area between the guest bedroom and mother’s room is designed to be a dynamic feature. A customised swing is incorporated with the galicha tiles on the floor and a very artistic piece of wall clock in the backdrop. Complete frame of the swing along with the backdrop and flooring gives a very royal tinge. Mother’s room was to be handled with utmost sensitivity. Due to her age and its related issues, we had to specifically craft all the furniture and the sanitary wares. The colour palette here is shades from the beige family and exposed concrete. Beautiful and intrinsic paintings add on to the grandeur. The guest bed room on the ground floor is also embellished extravagantly with bright shades of orange in the bed sets. Both the bathrooms are crafted artistically when it comes to the mirrors and dedo on the walls. Also the corten steel grills cast an innate shadow inside the bathrooms to enhance their beauty. The lift floor is also customised with the tinge of inlay.
The stair well is a classic combination of concrete and glass windows. Wood is used on the tread of the stairs. Hand crafted frames with raw silk in the background and metal cut figures are installed on the exposed concrete surface in the stair well. There is a combination of customised light fixtures hanging in the stair well right from the topmost slab, which makes the stair well look elemental.
Climbing up to the first floor, it houses the home theatre which has a multipurpose use and opens up to the terrace garden where we have given the shade of the existing trees. The east face of the home theatre has the corten steel jali with Sanskrit script carved out just to give the intricate sciagraphy. The exuberant terrace garden drags the attention of most of the visitors. Home theatre also provides space for an in-house bar area. The interiors are clad with acoustic panels topped up with extravagant and rich fabric. The powder toilet is an additional feature on the first floor, which has galicha tiles in flooring; self tailored wash basin consoles and textured concrete on the wall, which acts as a mural. There is the younger son’s bedroom which has a mild colour palette of the Aegean and the Prussian blue with the tinge of grey drapes and the carpets. Well crafted lamps and perfect wall paintings add to the elite mood of the space. On the same floor we have the master bedroom and one more guest bedroom.
The central square which connects the three rooms also have galicha tiles on the floor giving a royal touch. It also houses a set of antique finished chairs and a table which is perfect to suit the view of the double-heighted dining area from the first floor. We can also view the mango tree and its courtyard while travelling from the home theatre till the rooms. The master bedroom has the combination of the tints of Teal and Sapphire blue with cream bed covers which compliment the exposed surface of the concrete. The drapes are mild grey with the carpets complimenting the interiors. There are frames of kalamkari work installed to elevate the elegance level. The guest bedroom also revolves around the idea of minimal elements. This room lies in the colour range of cream and golden yellow, retaining the simplicity and the soft environment.
The top floor is resident to the main USP of the entire project and that is the fantasy bathroom. Adjoining to it is the family lounge, showing a way to the terrace garden. The lounge has sloping roof with a skylight at top to capture the natural light. The elder son’s room is on this floor, right next to the lift shaft. It has a vibrant surrounding with the colour range of yellow and dark grey with the wall behind the bed having the texture of exposed bricks.
There is a customised bed-back installed with circular cut outs of varying diameter and because it is in the east with a window behind it, there is a complete sheet of circular shadows being casted in the interiors. Now is the time to discuss the USP: the fantasy bathroom, which contains the Jacuzzi, steam, sauna and the shower cubical. Here concrete is utilized with colour pigmentation of indigo blue as the floor surface and grey as the walls. Customised marble cut jali is used as partitions with utmost perfection. Glass bricks are used on the floor in one patch to provide diffused natural light in the function below it, which is dining area. We have a view to the mango tree and its courtyard from this bathroom as well. The shower panel above the Jacuzzi is customised along with light setting to soothe the person’s mood using it.
On the second floor, right above the home theatre lays the Zen garden with bonsai plants of bougainvillea. The main idea was about giving an open terrace garden to all the floors which contain the shade of the trees. Not just ground floor, but all the floors should have the effect of opening up in the garden in presence of trees, which will also act as insulation for the spaces below. After completing the project, we can proudly say that we have been successful in achieving our goal of conservation. The success of this project holds true due to the high and unconditional support offered by the client, Mr. Amit Patel. It is because of his trust in us that we were able to perform with full proficiency and deliver the perfect result. We are glad to deepen the roots of the ancestral trees and gift Mr. Amit Patel, with an immortal asset. The challenge was completed when we could save 17 trees out of the 20. It is a very encouraging moment for us when we see ourselves contributing in the conservation of the nature.
Fact File:
- Client’s Name – Mr. Amit Patel
- Plot Area – 9100 Sq. Ft
- Built Up Area – 9800 Sq. Ft
- Design Team – Dipen Gada, Mrunal Bhogayata, Nidhi Patel, Prakash Prajapati, Prashant Gurjar
- Project Coordinator – Rahi Construction
- Photography – Tejas Shah