HOUSE SPLIT
TYPE : RESIDENCE
LOCATION : COONOOR, TN
AREA : 4500 SQFT
YEAR : 2015
AWARDS : NDTV DESIGN AWARD '17
I A&B YOUNG DESIGNERS'17
iGEN 2019 - ARCHITECT & INTERIORS IND
The residence sits on a hill slope between two adjoining roads sandwiching it. To retain the nature of the sloping site and to play with it there is least possible cut and fill between two plots.
Accessed from the road above on the east, a series of landscaped steps go down to lead to the main door. The plan is programmed to act as two volumes, one for the living spaces, bedrooms, toilets etc. and the other volume housing the service areas like the kitchen, dining and utility. The two volumes are bridged together by a third transparent volume that both acts to provide enclosure and also opens up the interior into the exterior. While looking outside from this space one will be able to perceive the moving clouds / rain / sun as though it is moving through the house.
All of the spaces are oriented and open towards the valley while the other side of the building is visually blocked from the access road by blank walls. The living room and the master bedroom open up into a large balcony/deck. All the living, the services and the transparent volume that connects it open towards the west that brings in an ample and ever changing drama of evening light into the house.
The living room has an east oriented curved roof with a skylight that brings in the morning sunlight into the space while also enclosing the passage to the terrace above. The roof of the dining curves in opposite direction to the living area roof to depict the volumetric play that happens between two hills. This is evidently seen from the section of the building and from the terrace. The difference in levels between the spaces is perceived through the visual connection established from the cutouts in the floor plates.
The windows are conceived as an ever changing portrait of the landscape from the inside. The central idea of framing the views of the landscape through architectural articulation is seen through all the spaces.
The traditional Indian system is translated to the context of designing in a cold zone which infuses a transparent SPLIT within the volume as a design response. The residence sits in mediation between the modern contrasts that it poses with the region while embracing the natural elements of the landscape.
