- Project name: Brick Curtain House_Nidhi
- Architect’ Firm: Design Work Group
- Website: www.designworkgroup.in
- Contact e-mail: drs@designworkgroup.in
- Design team: Dinesh Suthar, Bharat Patel, Jitendra Sabalpara, Sonakshi Berlia, Bhavika Suthar, Vishakha Jain, Ankit Sojitra, Chirag Katrodiya
- Project location: Mota Varachha, Surat, Gujarat (India)
- Completion Year: March 2016
- Gross Built Area : 810m2
- Photo credits : phxindia – Sebastian Zachariah , Ira Gosalia
Our
client having a family of 5, Mr Kanji bhai Bhalala is a public figure whose
only purpose is to serve the mankind and be in constant touch with people in
the neighborhood and visitors throughout the day.
The site is a part of Residential society a corner plot approached from road on the west edge. The layout was organised such that the private zone were at the inner side and public zone in the front facilitated by a centralised connecting services.
On the ground, the front occupies parking while the rear consists of servant room and a multi-purpose hall that connects with the outdoor Garden In the habitable spaces above , Private spaces like kitchen, dining and bedroom are accommodated at the inner side of the house while the front portion serves the client interactive nature and hence contains Semi- Open Spaces on both the sides that helps connection with the neighbours with a double height Living area in the centre. Within the centralised connecting spaces lies the prayer area which can be looked up to from the 2nd and 3rd floor Further, on the third floor, the Home Office is at front merging with the terrace garden on the sides.
The spatial Organisation brought with it the biggest climatic challenge the front facade with large surface areas stood exposed to the West side intensifying the heat gain throughout the day.
To
reduce heat gain various explorations were done after understanding the
architectural elements of hot climatic region:
- · Material
- · Texture
- · Jali
- · Engraving
The
analysis led us to select BRICK - a module that is raw and natural just as the
client, and could help create projections reducing the heating effect.
A brick façade with bulges
protruding in and out was selected. As the façade majorly needs to shade the
central indoor environment the two ends are straight without bulges, giving the
undulations in the centre a firm hold.
The central portion was
divided in three parts each having 3 bulges in a series. To structurally hold
the huge façade of 83 layers, vertical and horizontal reinforcement was
added.
The chosen form served dually ;Individually the brick module shaded itself.
2. Convex
bulges in the wall would shade its lower concave bulges, doing the same shading
thing at larger level.
The house is a perfect epitome of how a plane curtains itself. It stands out and connects to surroundings – both at the same time! The brick façade provides an ideal backdrop for the living area and major interaction spaces aesthetically adding simplicity and integrity to the design.
Overall the expression of house is response to client’s affinity for nature. It’s an outcome of seeking sustainable and functional amalgamation for the living environment.