Smart & Green

By Pari Syal 

Photography: Umeed Mistry; Courtesy Dwar Eco Design 

Who says that chic is synonymous with glamour? Who says that a modern lifestyle cannot co-exist with the earthy scent of our roots? Who says that reuse and recycle is mundane?

Dwar Eco Design is a design and build firm from Bengaluru helmed by architect Renu Mistry, who in her inimitable style ushers in the natural with the fabricated. 

When they had to design a 4BHK home situated at the junction of two streets, the design team zeroed in on the idea of using ‘Reduce, Reuse and Re-cycle’ as the design mantra, taking the project higher on an aesthetic platform by incorporating art as an integral part of the fit-out. 

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Overlooking a beautiful garden space, the villa styled home is designed with an open plan layout, minimal walls and an interlinking of spaces that are connected by double-height volumes. While the latter induces a stack-effect, helping keep the building cooler, further indoor-outdoor interactions are enhanced using landscaping with native plants and earthy settings. 

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Sloping Mangalore tiled roofs with glass inserts, large openings, roof overhangs and a constant communiqué with nature fill the home with natural cross-ventilation and sky-lighting. While this creates interesting chiaroscuro elements, which account for an intriguing ever-changing natural aesthetic, art becomes an integral part of the architecture, where works by local artists and craftsmen are integrated as various design elements. Scrap automobile parts used to create metal sculptures and window grills being just one case in point. 

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With all materials procured and manufactured locally, re-used components include doors and windows, stones and pavers from older buildings, broken tiles used as china-mosaic; broken glass pieces used for butch-work; and wrought iron railings made from recycled steel. 

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Focussing on a green programme to minimize impact on carbon footprint and the embodied energy in the materials used, provisions are made for solar photo voltaic panels and wind mill for power generation; grey water reclamation by association, and non-toxic indoor air-quality. Zero-waste construction, rain water harvesting, drip irrigation and solid concrete block external walls that provide sufficient thermal mass, are some of the other green features. 

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The villa represents a fine example of quality aesthetics combined with green principles of design and a cost-effective budget. 

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