B-one Bangalore by CADENCE

The residence sits in an urban fabric where the immediate context is a busy street and a lack of foliage for the house to respond to. The house is designed on a plot measuring 45’x90’, located in a typical Indian neighborhood flanking the busy street. The dense residential fabric of the neighborhood, proximity of the neighbors and the busy street in front prompted the conception of an introverted building.

• Typology: Residential (Stand-alone House)
• Name of Project: B-one
• Location: Bangalore, India
• Name of Client: Mr. Arun Bohra
• Principal Architect: Smaran Mallesh, Narendra Pirgal, Vikram Rajashekhar
• Design Team: Gowtham, Tanikewan, Rejin
• Site Area: 4000 sq. ft.
• Built-Up Area: 5700 sq. ft.
• Start Date: June 2014
• Completion Date: JULY 2016
• Photographer: Sergio Ghetti

 

Diagrammatically, the program of the house is laid out in the form an ‘H-shaped plan’ that wraps around a courtyard such that each arm of the ‘H’ flanks the courtyard. The open to sky courtyard, a highly sustainable element, not only becomes the point of interest and activity within the house, but also represents the ‘outside’ within the introverted house. The pergolas help shade the double height space and cut the glare, while the green wall helps in reducing the heat. The court is an oasis not just for light but for fresh air as well, where hot air escapes and fresh air comes through. Acting as a light well, the court enables the user to have a macro oasis within the house. The interiority of the house is designed to revolve around the experience of the garden, similar to that of a conventional courtyard/thotti house.

The program is expressed as horizontal bars across the courtyard. The puja room is further conceptualised as part of the courtyard; The puja and the courtyard together become the focus of the house for the various functions. Due to its transparency, the courtyard also acts as an extension to all the functions around it. This along with the use of wood as a dominant material accentuates the warmth in all the spaces, with the furniture chosen to mimic installations in space.

Deliberately attempting to move away from the conventional residential façade, no windows are provided. A blank wall with a dispersion of openings for the front facade emphasizes the introverted nature of the house and a large overhanging roof levitates above the mass. A sculpted object nestled between the roof and the ground below gives the residence a strong visual identity on the street. The vacuity within the heart of the house materialises on the facade as an undulating mass.. The contrast between the blank wall and the sculpted object is articulated in terms of materiality and form which helps stage one against the other. The house is self-sustainable with regard to the visual luxuriance and the quality of illumination.

About CADENCE- Projective Practice

 

Driven by the intent to conceive neoteric environments, create affective spaces, and staging lifestyles, architecture(al) design at Cadence Studio strives to spawn varied emotional responses and stage myriad lifestyles. Attempting to find beauty in the unfamiliar and achieving an affect of sensuality in design, the studio’s work sensitively explores issues of regional culture, lifestyle and sentiments to address how people emotionally respond to architecture.

Founded in 2005 in Bangalore, as a collaborative practice by the three principal architects, Smaran Mallesh, Vikram Rajshekar and Narendra Pirgal, the Cadence studio comprises of a young, individualistic team of architects, all of who are interested in architecture within a larger academic context. Challenging critical issues, fostered through discussions and deliberations, the Studio endeavors to speculate the creative thinking process, while engaging in conversation with global architecture / 

Over the years, this design philosophy combined with an efficient management system and pragmatic approach, has enabled the team to handle projects of varying scales, complexities and diverse typologies ranging from houses, multi-family residential communities, institutes, hospitality, well-being and healthcare spaces etc. The award-winning studio’s work gets recognized frequently in both renowned national and international publications, and the principals engage in design dialogues globally and locally to empower the studio’s vision of Projective Practice.

By identifying and questioning clichés of the building type, the design process speculates alternate solutions to craft new experiences. Be it conception of a space, formation of a surface or articulating a skin, there is a constant search for sculptural form, poetics in light, softness in space and tactility through materials to engage the emotive senses and spawn vibrant feelings. The design process aims to transcend the obvious to create a more pleasurable and sensorial experience, manifesting in buildings that celebrate life and enable identity- for both themselves and the users.

 DESIGN PROCESS

The premise for the studio’s thinking process stems from the works of German philosopher Walter Benjamin, delving in the notion that architecture is absorbed in a state of distraction. Countering this very notion, Pleasure and Privacy become critical concerns as do Experience and Effects while addressing the utilitarian aspect of architecture. Through notions of Phenomenology and the humanist project, the spirit of speculation manifests itself into strategic processes that enable design projects to transform/evolve from conceptual ideas to sophisticated finished products. This process-based rigor is laced with a certain sensibility to achieve new spatial and formal effects, while transforming existing lifestyles.

 An Approach to materiality stems from the poetics of surface, lines and patterns. Working with concrete, brick and plastered surfaces lends itself well to accentuate the same. The use of technology and innovation hence propels a new comprehension of material application, which is not typically re-interpretive in nature, but is oriented towards the effects of materiality.

Sustainability in today’s global climatic context is no longer a choice, but a responsibility. As a Notion by itself, we recognize that it is not sufficient, and hence together with strong notions of design, technological advancement and computation, it becomes a tool to drive our design process.