Uninterrupted Design

By Beverly Pereira

Photography: Courtesy Collage Architecture Studio

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A home in Bangalore relies on skylights, wall-free spaces, indoor landscaping and a multi-purpose water feature to maximise interaction, natural light and ventilation

Collage Architecture Studio has conceived a single, introverted and multi-level volume in response to a client’s request for a visually connected home with flexible spaces. Each room, strategically placed to channelize ventilation,seamlessly flows into the next across a wall-free volume that aids interaction. 

The free-flowing transition from a front garden to a living space, multifunctional court, family room and, finally, a backyard parlays the layout of a traditional Indian home. Pergolas in the front and rear creatively merge the home with the surrounding greenery.

 

The waterbody in the internal courtyard

A skylight, landscaped courtyard, also reminiscent of traditional Indian houses, is reinterpreted with a water feature that physically segregates the living room and family area without breaking the visual connection. Besides serving as a cushioned seating area in the cool months, it can be transformed into a water pond for a cooling effect during summers.

 

The bridge that links different spaces and levels

The use of guy wires for staircase railings adds to this sense of vastness. A bridge on the upper level links various levels while offering views of the living space below. Here, wooden louvers encase a cantilevered prayer room that appears as a solid cube by day. By night, this space of solitude transforms into a semi-opaque glowing box that exudes an ethereal quality.

 

Living Room                                                                                                    Cantilevered Prayer Room

Prayer Room: by day & by night

White walls, rustic dholpur sandstone and granite flooring work in tandem with ample sunlight to create a warm, earthy yet contemporary feel. Lesser-used areas, like toilets and dressers, are strategically housed in the southern and western sides to reduce internal heat gain, while the western façade is completely clad to insulate the house.

 

Chiaroscuro features that result from the shifting natural light at different times throughout the day

The facade of the building plays host to a volley of vertical and horizontal planes, projections and voids well in line with the wall-free stack effect created inside.