Integrating childish curiosity and a flair for the modern, a home designed for two young girls.
The home in Ahmedabad that is designed for two girls, 3 and 9 respectively, as per their fancies and to appeal to their sensitivities.
THE FOCUS
The architect decided to go eco-friendly by focusing on local materials and techniques, upcycling, recycling and ensuring a minimal carbon footprint. Now this earth has been on site since forever. It has endured the test of time. So it just made sense that this very earth becomes the house! One that uses only 6-8% of cement usually needed for normal construction. Bringing the same idea into mainstream architecture, the team built structural walls for the house by ramming earth excavated from the site itself. And to add a fun element, like patterns seen in layered sand art, different natural oxides are used to create layered fluid patterns in the large monolith. The girls’ stone and shell collections, were also added to the walls to preserve their fond memories.
THE BRIEF
The girls asked if Naman can create a ceiling which changes. So he decided to have a sloping glass for the living room ceiling. A dynamic ceiling, one that changes with the weather. Gaze and fantasize about patterns in the clouds, experience the rain which feels like a waterfall on your head and stare at the moon and the stars all night! This cool north light brightens the house throughout the day, reducing electrical consumption.
THE TOUR
The idea was to make it a play house. Since Ahmedabad gets hot in summer, the team decided to bring the playground inside the house. There is a slide going down from the first floor. There is a secret room! One that has three different entries, but each is a mystery to find. The girls were happy to see a guillotine door, a sliding door which looks just like the partition, and a staircase which is a part of the bookshelf on the ground floor. The bridge on the first floor ramps down to the girl’s room for an impromptu catwalk for the fashionista. Next was an acrobatic bed, suspended from the ceiling, with a rope ladder going up and plenty of climbing and jumping opportunities. And sketches from their drawing books became grills for windows, blackboards on partitions to bring out the Picasso in them.