The Drift House on Little Much Farm: a home with purpose and whimsy!

Compiled by Team IAnD

Info: Courtesy LAB

Photography: Sebastian Zacharia; courtesy the architect

Read Time: 3 mins

The Drift House (Inset) Ar. Shonan Purie Trehan

Ar. Shonan Purie Trehan of LAB creates spaces of both, purpose and whimsy as she addresses this holiday home - Finalist in the World Architecture Festival 2019 Completed Buildings: Villa category - with multiple vantage points in its scenic locale…

Strategically planned mild steel dia-grid roof structures charter the course of this 8000 sq. ft. home in the lap of nature at a remote hill side location overlooking the Sahyadri hills of Mulshi and its lake. 

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The villa called ‘The Little Much Farm’ is a holiday home, where spaces are planned as a series of potential happenings: layered, connected, scalar, with an element of discovery. Spread across six acres, the built forms engage with a four-bedroom villa, a two-bedroom cottage, a pool and a farm.

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The architectural vocabulary is guided as much by function – to combat the extreme weather conditions; as by the panoramic surrounds: hence the multiple vantage points. The design strategy of the roof provides shelter from both monsoon rain and the harsh sun; liberating the forms of the enclosures, that are a composition of angles informed by the various draws of the site and the eccentricities of its owners. Three single slope mild steel roofs slant in distinct directions creating specific conditions: a windy but dry corner, a crack of sky above the entry, a sheltered monsoon walkway.

 

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Built by a ship-building fabrication team, the mild steel dia-grid roof structures float above the various interior and exterior spaces. Exposed concrete columns built with custom detail form work, hold up the drifting roof planes at strategic nodes of the dia-grid. The locations of the columns allow for large roof overhangs to shelter the deck and considered interior spaces. Oriented on specific axes, spaces are enclosed with large scale glazing and masonry walls.

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Three distinct built blocks are constructed along the slope of the terrain, keeping the number of retaining walls to a minimum. The blocks are connected at one level to create collective social spaces, whereby the deck becomes the connecting ground plane between the first floor of one house block, the ground floor of another, the garden, the pool and the entry ramp. The middle block is a double-height volume and is connected to the upper floor of the western block and the lower floor of the eastern block.  This construction method allows for the creation of spaces of both purpose and whimsy. 

Axonometric view

The internal spaces are both playful and practical. A large timber slide connects the first floor with the social space on the ground floor. The slide immediately sets the tone for the potential of fun in the house. The house is dotted with elements of bespoke design details that bring joy. Reading the words cast in the underbelly of the slabs strategically placed above the beds of the guest rooms, bring moments of delight. Cast in place sculptural terrazzo wash basins, laser etched art on the wardrobe shutters, ceramic lily pads in the deck floor, a sunset seat in the pool… curate a lively experience for a home on a farm. 

Fact File:

Project Name: The Drift House on Little Much Farm

Architect /Architecture Firm - Shonan Purie Trehan, Language.Architecture.Body (LAB)

Lead Architect: Shonan Purie Trehan

Team: Lekha Gupta (project architect), Mounisha Katneni

Consultants: Devang Sutaria (structure), Kapse Consultant (Plumbing), Cardoz Consulting (Electrical and Networking)

Contractor: Impex

Built Area: 8,000 sq. ft.

Location: Mulshi lake, Pomgaon, Maharashtra, India

Completion year: 2018