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2BKR
2BKR
Ottapalam, India
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2BKR
Ottapalam, India
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2021
SIZE
1000 sqft - 3000 sqft
BUDGET
$50K - 100K
Nestled within a quiet settlement on the gently withdrawn floodplains of the Bharathapuzha River. Residence is conceived for an expatriate family of four returning to their ancestral land. The house unfolds as a spatial tale of memory, belonging, and ecological awareness, where architecture becomes a vessel for both personal histories and political life.
At its heart stands an old mango tree. In the early stages of the design, we fought for its preservation, insisting that the house grow around it rather than erase it. After some hesitation, the clients agreed, helped by the practical detail that keeping existing trees on a plot can reduce the tax amount during plan sanction. What began as a negotiation soon became the soul of the project.
Three built volumes compose the home, enclosing the courtyard like open arms around the tree. Volume One holds the living, dining, kitchen, and the primary bedroom, forming the everyday engine of the house. Volume Two contains the daughter’s and son’s bedrooms, tucked slightly apart to give each a sense of their own corner of the world. Volume Three rises as a double-height entrance space, opening into a shaded gathering zone that acts as both threshold and community porch.
Together, these volumes frame the courtyard, turning it into a calm inner landscape where the family’s daily rhythms unfold. It also becomes a natural forum for their active involvement in the local communist party: informal meetings, shared meals, and quiet conversations drift under the mango tree’s canopy.
Orientation shapes light like a slow dance. The east-facing double-height foyer gathers in the morning, the southern living area glows through midday, and the western corridor leads to bedrooms that settle into evening hues. Sunlight moves around the courtyard in a gentle loop, animating the home with shifting shadows and soft reflections.
The architecture responds to the limited availability of highly skilled labour. A pragmatic yet expressive system of frame and load-bearing walls rests on wide, shallow footings suited to the riverine soil. Deep-set windows shield the interiors from heat and monsoon rains while framing fragments of the courtyard, keeping inside and outside in constant conversation.
A key material gesture grounds the project: seasoned teak wood sourced from the client’s farmland 60 kilometers away. Crafted by local carpenters, the doors and joinery form a warm, tactile link between land, labour, and dwelling.
Even the colour palette folds local memory into the design. The bright yellow and red accents nod to the bold hues often found in rural Kerala homes, adding a quiet wink to the region’s everyday aesthetic while keeping the overall composition grounded.
At its heart stands an old mango tree. In the early stages of the design, we fought for its preservation, insisting that the house grow around it rather than erase it. After some hesitation, the clients agreed, helped by the practical detail that keeping existing trees on a plot can reduce the tax amount during plan sanction. What began as a negotiation soon became the soul of the project.
Three built volumes compose the home, enclosing the courtyard like open arms around the tree. Volume One holds the living, dining, kitchen, and the primary bedroom, forming the everyday engine of the house. Volume Two contains the daughter’s and son’s bedrooms, tucked slightly apart to give each a sense of their own corner of the world. Volume Three rises as a double-height entrance space, opening into a shaded gathering zone that acts as both threshold and community porch.
Together, these volumes frame the courtyard, turning it into a calm inner landscape where the family’s daily rhythms unfold. It also becomes a natural forum for their active involvement in the local communist party: informal meetings, shared meals, and quiet conversations drift under the mango tree’s canopy.
Orientation shapes light like a slow dance. The east-facing double-height foyer gathers in the morning, the southern living area glows through midday, and the western corridor leads to bedrooms that settle into evening hues. Sunlight moves around the courtyard in a gentle loop, animating the home with shifting shadows and soft reflections.
The architecture responds to the limited availability of highly skilled labour. A pragmatic yet expressive system of frame and load-bearing walls rests on wide, shallow footings suited to the riverine soil. Deep-set windows shield the interiors from heat and monsoon rains while framing fragments of the courtyard, keeping inside and outside in constant conversation.
A key material gesture grounds the project: seasoned teak wood sourced from the client’s farmland 60 kilometers away. Crafted by local carpenters, the doors and joinery form a warm, tactile link between land, labour, and dwelling.
Even the colour palette folds local memory into the design. The bright yellow and red accents nod to the bold hues often found in rural Kerala homes, adding a quiet wink to the region’s everyday aesthetic while keeping the overall composition grounded.
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