Architecture Portfolio - Alfred

profile

alfredchirackal@gmail.com

9496613672, 8075037895

I am Alfred, an architect from Kerala. I am very passionate about architecture and keenly look forward to learn and unlearn the various factors that make good architecture. I have a very functional approach to design and hope to develop my knowledge and understanding the narratives that a space can convey through innovative design solutions.

Alfred Ron James Thodupuzha, Kerala

education

B.Arch

College Of Architecture, Trivandrum [C.A.T]

experience

Internship

Thomas Phillip Associates, Changanassery, Kerala

Life by Design, Kochi, Kerala

Junior Architect

Vasa Atelier Architects, Thodupuzha, Kerala

Freelance

Villa - Interior, Thodupuzha Residence, Trivandrum, Kerala

Puthanangadi Market, Cherthala, Kerala

skills

autocad/revit

3dsmax/sketchup

photoshop/indesign/illustrator/ vray/lumion/d5 render/twinmotion

Brick jaali

Roof tile facade wall

Reused wood

Stone wall

brick veil house

Residential / Renovation

The Brick Veil house in Thodupuzha, Kerala is an attempt at restoring a 70 year old house that was in need of intervention to prolong its life. The building has been subject to a number of modifications and extension works over its lifetime. Built using locally available laterite stones, limestone plaster and wood, the house had good thermal comfort levels but had very dark interiors and a complicated circulation layout.

Therefor the challenge was to resolve these issues without changing the better aspects about the house and keeping its core character intact.

The house sits isolated from the main road (SH40) in the middle of a rubber plantation. This context provides sufficient green cover around the house. The house faces East and the approach road is from the north side.

The brick jali facade is introduced as a means to reduce heat gain in the rooms by the moring sun. It also acts as a privacy sheild for the bedrooms at the front.

The car porch is provided as a seperate unit, away from the house and close to the access road so that vehicle movement can be regulated to a smaller area, allowing the rest of the area to be treated as landscape area.

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Veil house before the renovation.

The house had a narrow verandah called ‘illamthinna’ running around the house on 3 sides. It was used as resting place during work breaks from the fields.

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All the bedrooms were arranged towards the sounthern side of the house and only one of the 5 bedrooms had an attached toilet.

The house was modified several times over the last 7 decades. This resulted in the rooms having different wall thicknesses and different opening sizes.

The resulting plan now has enough space inside the rooms to accomodate furniture.

Circullation inside the house is through a passage that runs along the westtern side rather than through the centre of the building. This increases walking distance inside the house.

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The old kitchen was not spacious enough. The adjacent patio space was used as an extension to the kitchen. The kitchen is extended to the patio to add more space inside.

There were exit doors on four sides of the house, three of them from bedrooms. These additional doors are closed off.

The eastern side of the house was provided with open and semi-open seating spaces so as to create a buffer zone between the interior rooms and the exterior. This helps reduce direct thermal conduction into the rooms, which would otherwise be exposed to direct sunlight during mornings.

After rearrangement the house now has its circulation more conveniently through its center and an open layout.

Brick Veil house after the design intervention.

The sloping roof has a wooden ceiling underneath which is made using repurposed wood from the demolished part of the attic. Wood being a non conductor of heat ensures better thermal comfort inside the house.

Double height spaces and an open layout enusres better wind movement inside and also lets in more natural light into the house.

The brick jali creates a buffer space that is converted into a semi-outdoor seating space between the bedrooms and the exterior landscape.

Spaces can be classified into three categories.

Communal spaces

Private spaces

Utility spaces

Communal spaces such as dining and informal living are placed at the core of the house. These are designed as double height rooms to maximise the sense of space and let in more natural light and improve ventilation.

The old attic space is partially retained. The one above the dining hall was removed to make the hall a double height space so that the room gets more natural light.

A sloping roof covers the entire building. It is made by reusing the old roofing tiles on a new metal truss system as the old wooden structure was partially damaged. The leftover wood from the demolished truss and attic is used to cover the underside of the sloping roof.

The introduction of the jaali feature lends a layering character to the form.

The private living space has an outdoor seating space adjacent to it which faces the kitchen garden. This makes it the perfect place for a casual hangout or an evening snack.

Outside the eastern bedrooms is a patio space defined by jali walls on the eastern side. This becomes an interesting semi-outdoor seating space and provides privacy for the bedrooms.

aby’s abode

Residential / Interior

Aby’s abode is home to Mr.Aby, his wife Diana and their 7 year old. Part of a newly developed apartment complex in Trivandrum, the apartment came with problems associated with most apartment homes. The space was limited and it lacked character like a mass produced product. The interior design work was done so as to bring their home as close to their expectations, both aesthetically as well as functionally.

The central passage in the apartment connects all the rooms in the house with each other. Inorder to maximise usable space inside the home the master bedroom is designed as a convertible space that can be opened up to combine the bedroom and passage together into one larger room. This makes the house more accessible and airy when required.

Tropical themed wallpapers adorn the living room walls, making the room more vibrant and lively. Minimal furniture and material choices also helps in highlighting the walls. The entrance foyer is treated with wood wall cladding on the walls and the ceiling, thus acting like a transition space from the building corridor to the apartment.

A semi-circular archway leads to the private spaces such as the bedrooms and the home office from the living space.

Materials having the same colour tones were chosen so that the furniture and accessories in the room do not stand out and grab much attention. Here the white and wood combination of materials complement each other and make the room feel lighter, all the while making the wall the focus point of the

A seating platfrom that has an underseat storage is provided in the kitchen.

The kitchen is designed considering the functional requirements such as storage and work spaces in a room with space constraints.

A wallpaper finish is provided behind the bed headboard.

The bedroom is designed as a convertible space that can open into the adjacent passage.

Mr.Aby who is an IT professional required a home office as he has to work from home often after the pandemic. Also his wife who is a cancer survivor needs attention from him for medical reasons, which requires him to work from home sometimes. Therefor one of the three bedrooms was converted into a workspace with a sit/stand work desk and enough space to stretch out and rest during long hours infront of the workstation.

The kid’s bedroom is designed in such a way that it is equiped to promote activities such as playing and studying in the same room, without sacrificing functinality. The cupboards are designed to the child’s height and has steps to help the child reach tall storage racks.

The seating deck can be converted into the child’s study table when required. The Wall mounted drawing board can come into aid during study sessions as well as a place for the child to express his creative side.

The drawing board can help bring out the child’s creativity.

house of three

Residential / Apartment

The three storey building perched on a sloping site that sits below the road, House of Three is a multiresidential building that houses three different families. The Ground level unit is occupied by the client while the upper floors are two different tenant units. The client who does not live here due to his job did not want his parents living alone. Therefor it was designed as a multiresidential home where the upper two units will either be sold off or leased to another family. The sloping site granted the opputunity to provide the tenant units, which are designed as two storey homes, with access from the main road. The client unit is provided with a seperate entry from a by-road along the site that is shared by the client and his neighbours.

Dopminated by earthy tones and a minimalistic aesthetic, the building sits amongst the site’s greenery as a two-box structure seperated by a courtyard garden at the ground level.

The access from the main road is used by the two tenant families while the client would use the second entry from the back of the building.

The exposed brick texture for the lowermnost unit was provided so as to distinctify the units above and below the road level. Selected Works ׀ House of Three

The site sits lower than the adjacent road. A by-road runs along the site on another side. The site has a sloping terrain.

Parking/Entrance Unit I Unit II Unit III

The 3 units are arranged in two tower like structures arranged parallel to each other. The client unit occupies the entire base level and the other two units are arranged as two storey homes above it.

An entrance block is placed parallel to the road infront of the two tower structures.

Importance is given to the view from the rooms. The entrance block is tilted by a small degree to face better views.

The rroms now has views towards the greenery around the building.

A series of outdoor and semi-outdoor spaces in the building makes the transition between indoors and outdoors smoother while also creating interesting play of light and acting as a dust and road noise.

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sri vanamamalai perumal temple nanguneri, tirunalveli

Sri Vanamamalai temple, located in Nanguneri town of Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu was documented by a team of 120 students from College of Architecture, Trivandrum in 2017. The temple is constructed in Dravidian Architecture style along the Thamiraparani river. It contains various inscriptions and detailing dating back to 1236 CE, the period of Sundara Pandya.

The temple, constructed entirely out of stone contains meticulous sculptural detailing of stories from the hindu literature.

The walls and pillered hallways contains several motifs and sculptures of hindu deities. These were carefully studied and documented.

The temple has a large five-tiered gopuram (gateway tower) and a large temple compound having two prakarams (closed precincts of a temple).

Joinery and construction details such as those on doors and smaller objects like ritual bells and lamps were also documented.

The temple had a roof made out of stone slabs supported by stone pillars and beams.