Project Name: House For Mr Tejas Patel
Practice: Associated Architects Pvt. Ltd. (AAPL)
Excerpt: House For Mr Tejas Patel is an architectural project designed by Associated Architects Pvt. Ltd. in Ahmedabad, India. The owners wanted a home that reflected their spiritual beliefs reflection of one such aspect is a creative intervention of “swastika” symbol at the vestibule created through lights, in keeping with the idea, the house has been designed with such simple forms, volumes and masses so that every space within the house creates a story.
Project Description
(“Text as submitted by architect”)
Located in a quiet suburb of Ahmedabad in a gated community, this is home to a small family of three. Given us a brief that the footprint of the house should be minimal and the use of local craftsmanship and locally sourced materials that celebrate materiality and the relationship between the manmade and the natural – reducing carbon footprints. The client was desirous of a space that would reconcile privacy with transparency and possess a strong connection to the outside. The key to this project was to build the home around nature instead of weaving nature into the home. There is a modesty of articulation, which is rich with consideration for the environment, as well as the consciousness that a home should offer you an experience that is fundamentally different from a routine one. Natural and raw materials were the primary medium through which this guiding principle was articulated.
Considering the hot climate of Ahmedabad, the family wanted a structure that could not only withstand the weather but also reduce the heat in some way. For ensuring a cooler climate within the complex, the architects created a cavity wall on the exteriors of the house to trap the warm air within. Keeping this as a focal point of our design we had started designing with the right amount of involvement of vernacular ideologies in the design of the house which as per us can be termed ‘contemporary vernacular’.
The built form is strategically placed at the back of the plot at a height keeping the front open, and also it is staggered following the slope generating a progressive increase in the heights at the access level, seeking to generate a hierarchical sequence of spaces where the private spaces gain greater height and the formal spaces are lower. Here the first floor consists of two large bedrooms shared gym space.
The Elevation of the two-story dwelling, masses out through additive and subtractive volumes, featuring the play of layered offset frames which are perceived differently, as the client had told they wanted to enjoy more outdoor spaces we had purposefully place a terrace on top of the drawing to have control over the massing and client can enjoy the large a vast landscape coming outside of their bedroom.
The house is woven with natural light and greenery. Its simplicity is layered with symbols of nature and light,” shares Bhavik Nandi, principal architect. The owners wanted a home that reflected their spiritual beliefs reflection of one such aspect is a creative intervention of “swastika” symbol at the vestibule created through lights, in keeping with the idea, the house has been designed with such simple forms, volumes and masses so that every space within the house creates a story.
