In Sync with Nature
The House that Rains Light, Ernakulam, Kerala LIJO. RENY. architects, Thrissur, Kerala
The owners, a young couple with two kids, imagined a house that was unconventional and displayed a sense of individuality. However, there were quite a few challenges– the spatial limitations, the climatic conditions of the region and the tight square footage. The House that Rains Light, as christened by the architects, overcomes all of these hurdles with a design that breaks away from all stereotypes.
The house reimagines dappled shade under the trees, informal kids play nooks, gardens with flowers, birds and butterflies, all lost to rapid urbanization, while being confined to a tight plot within a typical residential layout. The owners wanted this space to transcend the small footprint on site and become a multi- spatial and sensory experience for their kids to grow up in.
The architects approached the project
diff erently right from the start. The architects avoided the typical compound wall and gate towards the road. Instead, the shaded front yard becomes the parking area, a sit- out and a play area that spills out onto the relatively deserted road when the kids are in a mood for football or cricket, with their friends from the neighbourhood, and a much larger space is needed. To make up for the absence of the compound wall, the architects added three canopies of creepers and fl owering plants that would give privacy, and envelop the interiors in a calm, cool embrace.
The front door of this biophilic house
opens into a spread- out volume that includes clearly defi ned spaces such as the living, dining, kitchen, a bedroom that can be closed when necessary. Interspersed in between are landscape pockets lit by a series of skylights. The open layout, that creates a sense of spaciousness in the otherwise small footprint of the building, becomes yet another playground for the kids. The kitchen, though kept private from the entry, extends into the dining to form a multipurpose counter and a study table for the couple who occasionally works from home. A shared toilet accessed from the wash area tucked under the stairs and the bedroom remains the only closed space in the ground fl oor.
The fi rst fl oor has an open family space with two bedrooms, a common toilet and a balcony accessed directly from it. The skylit courts connect the volumes vertically and horizontally. Birds and butterfl ies fl utter around the seasonal fl owers on the green wall, abutting the large external openings of this fl oor that fi lter air and
harsh sunlight as well as provide security and privacy. Waking up to simple pleasures of bird songs and various colours, the inhabitants find each day a wonder.
Strategically positioned windows, considering the seasonal shift of wind, ensure cross ventilation throughout the year. The three skylit vertical volumes, the two landscape voids and the staircase shaft, that connects to the clerestory windows at the top, facilitates stack effect and helps control the internal temperature during the hot summers of the tropical south. Streaks of sunlight and moonlight that rain down the skylight change seasonally in length and intensity, making the interiors dynamic throughout the year. The large green walls, that define the façade, extend and cover one third the roof to form shaded pockets on the terrace suitable for a siesta or an evening of barbecue and merriment with friends and family.
The materiality of the built structure creates a neutral backdrop for the burst of bright colours thematically positioned throughout the house by means of furniture, soft furnishings, decor and patterns in the flooring. A series of wall art made of candid photographs, positioned across the spaces, stand testament to vibrant lives of the inhabitants of the ‘ House That Rains Light’.