Client's brief: To design a guest house in Jajpur, Orissa for the client and his family.

Concept: A tropical home on the outside with the essence of a traditional Parsi home on the inside.

Jajpur, located three hours from Bhubaneshwar, is an industrial town in Orissa. The home, located near the Jindal Stainless Limited plant, is nestled between natural sights, overlooking a pond on one side and the forest on the other. The layout is simple and almost symmetrical: the four bedrooms, the living, dining, study and kitchen are on the ground floor with the gym on the upper floor. Each space of the house has an unbeatable vista of lush green landscapes and vegetation. To enhance the panorama, the entire bungalow was raised by 10 feet to get a view of the pond from the interior spaces. While the layout may be simple, the real challenge was constructing the home in a remote location with virtually no resources around. The project was successfully completed in under one year.

While the home is secluded from public eye, it is porous and at one with its natural surroundings. As one enters the home through a wide double door, a picture window at the entrance, allows one a clear view straight through the living room, to the outdoor sit out, all the way to the pond. The double-height living room is at the heart of the home, while the bedrooms and more private spaces are on the periphery. All of the rooms facing the pond have a sit-out space to pause and take in the sights. The kitchen, pantry and servants’ quarters are appended to the dining and form a separate wing. A sculptural spiral staircase, clad in wood, forms the focal point of the passage space, connecting the ground level to the gym on the upper level.

The objective was to make this a home away from home, the architectural style is thus reminiscent of a tropical style house. The elements on the exterior capture this essence with its sloping roof with a custom fascia and overhangs along with sit out spaces, custom wooden railings, stucco, and terracotta roof tiles, to name a few. To enhance the feel of a traditional Parsi home, materiality plays a key role in the interiors. Terrazzo tiles have been used extensively through the space; with each area displaying a different pattern, color, chip and texture of a very versatile material. The ceiling has ornamental grooves and faux rafters. The nine-foot-high panelled doors too are evocative of an old Parsi home, with a meticulously crafted profile for the frame. This same profile is found in other elements of the home like the skirting, mirror frames and mouldings.

The furniture is carefully curated and is a combination of heirloom furniture sourced from Mumbai, along with contemporary antique-style furniture. The design fuses the best of the old world with modern design sensibilities, needs and comfort. Each room has a unique color story with elegant patterned fabrics to complement the color scheme. The palette is kept soft and light, and the ample natural light in the house makes the spaces feel airy and inviting. Lighting is restricted to decorative fixtures, from coloured table lamps, floor lamps and artistic pieces, creating a glow through the house at night-time making the space feel more homely and warm.