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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. Amaltas House in Gujarat, India by SquareWorks LLPNovember 19th, 2019 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: SquareWorks LLP ‘Amaltas’ (regional name for Cassia Fistula) is a residential retreat, conceptualized and designed as a sublime setup amidst an otherwise countryside landscape. As a spatial configuration, Amaltas addresses residential functionality in accord with the surrounding invitatory landscape, interspersed courtyards, apertures for indirect daylighting and syncretic accents of inherited, artisanal and natural entities. Owing to its site-specific presence, the villa encompasses about 900 sq. m of area, across a 7000 sq. m plot, on the outskirts of Vadodara City, Gujarat, India. The built form demonstrates wide peripheral verandahs towards the South and West-facing surfaces enveloping the internal annexes, which radiate outwards from the formal center of the space; further guiding a user through sequential experiences from public to semi-private, and eventually private areas. The peculiarity in this case is, that the spatial domesticity here caters to the requirements of its singular inhabitant i.e. the client herself, as opposed to the typicality of any residential space accommodating a multi-member family household. On similar lines, the transitions between open, semi-open and closed spaces are structured through a series of courtyards which not only moderate the openness of each space, but also enable natural ventilation and day-lighting.  Night view demonstrating the flexibility of sliding-folding safety grill, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau
 Villa as seen from the Northern fringe of the expansive plot , Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau Brief The brief presented by a client who’s also a landscape architect and an environment enthusiast, called for a consciously designed ecosystem, integrating multi-layered domestic spaces, coherent materiality, energy efficiency and mobility for the elderly. Apart from the main residence, the brief also demanded two additional independent provisions to facilitate an office unit and a domestic staff annex. Preliminary spatial requisites indicated a design that featured: 1. A dedicated zone designed exclusively for the solitary client, with an attached lap-pool, bedroom, lounge, walk-in closet, kitchenette, gymnasium and a private garden. 2. A semi-private zone for the client and her guests, with two bedrooms and relevant services 3. A public core, with an entrance hall, living area, dining room, powder room and a library. 4. A service wing with a spacious kitchen, storage, laundry room with utility areas for domestic help and cleaning staff. Moreover, other requisites of the design were to incorporate maximum vertical surfaces and niches to exhibit client’s diverse and valuable art collection. Simultaneously, each space within the villa, was conceptualised and optimised considering the tonal qualities of indirect light in order to enhance the user’s spatial experience within the house.  Ariel view showing grey lattice, furthering the extensions of architectural geometry, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  West facing deep verandah works as a seamless entrance and also performs as a climatic buffer, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau Spatial Considerations for the Design: • Axial Circulation – A branched layout with axial routes for circulation ascertains continuity of movement without interfering with the privacy of allied spaces. Concurrent axial intersections limn a diffusing quality of space at several junctures, mediating the user to relate his/her presence within an extended spatial realm –distinguishing the degrees of privacy and receptivity. • Contiguous Disjuncture – As a diagram, the volumes and voids formed around the central axes conciliate the rotation of the superimposed grids, allowing disjunct spatial formations which function distinctly, despite of their circulatory interconnectedness. This rotation moderated by the widening brick masonry accommodates most of the storage, giving away open-ended unobstructed indoor spaces.  Pool-side patio with interlocking planes, merging the indoors and outdoors , Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Clean lines of the façade, casting shadow that gives depth to the visual perspective of the structure, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau • Subdued Liminality – The transitions maintain a convergence of functions and activities which otherwise require segregation between indoors and outdoors, allowing spaces to fluidly merge into one another without confining the extents of built and unbuilt. • Hierarchy of Spaces – both, in terms of volume and nature of activity, the spaces follow a progressive pattern, unveiling a series of transitions from closed to open and public to private. • Transparency – achieved through a series of vertical and horizontal punctures piercing the interlocking planes – superimposing vistas of interiors and exteriors – thorough visual penetration through lines of sight.  Gradual transition with an extended sit out adjoining the pool, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Transitional progression from indoors to outdoors through subtle spatial markers, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau • Asymmetry – implicitly, the spaces characterise irregularities and asymmetry with an intention to innovate the underlying redundancy • Climatic Buffers – Designed for a sub-tropical climate, master spaces are planned alongside deep verandahs on southern and western sides, enabling efficient shading and cross ventilation through the wide climatic buffers. • Composite Structure – Brick masonry and RC frame structure compositely help achieve structural integrity along with thermal heat storage; enabling year-round thermal comfort indoors. The eastern side is enveloped by a thick layer of brick masonry which insulates against the harsh morning heat.  Inverted exposed RC Vault overlooking the west-facing veranda from the living, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Living and Dining seen as interconnected spatial extensions, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau • Integrity of Natural entities and Phenomena: The palette of materials used in the house, involve specific yet diverse constituents, in a way that the resultant space can be envisaged to senesce with time, embracing the transient instinctive decadence. • Simultaneity / Concurrence – deviating from the formal domesticity of an ordinary household, the residence resonates with an autonomy that governs each space to function independently, yet coherently.  Dining space depicting transparency and layering, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Axial circulation established through punctured planes, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Interstitial circulation between lily-pond and dining merging indoors and outdoors, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Experiencing the tilting of axis accommodated within the circulatory veranda, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Juxtaposition of materials and planes demonstrating a private space overlooking into an open-to-sky void, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Courtyards across the deep plan allowing natural light and cross-ventilation, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Transparency in private spaces such as this bathroom, emphasizing upon the single-user domesticity within a larger spatial framework, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Master Bathroom with indirect daylight to accentuate playful variations inside a private space, Image Courtesy © Fabien Charuau  Plan, Image Courtesy © SquareWorks LLP  Site Plan, Image Courtesy © SquareWorks LLP  Section, Image Courtesy © SquareWorks LLP
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Categories: House, Residential |
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