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Spellbinding Moroccan Magic

Leisure, tranquillity and adaptation of a traditional Moroccan house are the key elements of this home in Ahmedabad.

Images: Umang Shah

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The home: Casa aUM LocaTion: ahMedabad, GUjarat Firm: Mistry arChiteCts, banGalore Design Team: sharUkh Mistry, deepa. s. Wani, anand.r and anaGha

The owners’ desired a living space that ought to teleport them to a Moroccan style home, having a significant connection with nature. They wanted to have an open yet private space with a completely soothingatmosphere. The architects blurred the boundaries between internal and House Of The Monthexternal spaces, and planned a house in an extroverted manner by bringing in natural light and yet taking care of the weather outside. Our first impression was to create a stunningly beautiful home using the basic form of straight walls and large openings with flat slabs, edges curved (creating the language of a Moorish design). The orientation of the house and its strategic positioning of elements such as the courts and open spaces bring in ample amount of daylight, while at the same time avoiding direct heat gain. Volumes are played with to create multiple leisure spaces with a landscaped terrace accessible from the first floor. The architectural vocabulary of this home was envisaged representing Mediterranean elements.

Approaching and understanding what the site has to offer us, we started to design the external spaces – open and green and slowly venturing into the interior areas. A simple plan was developed capturing the essence of viewpoints. The ground level houses the common areas, with first and the second floor consisting of bedrooms with play within the levels, creating a profuse expanse on the interior.

The design theme of this home is a complete mix of natural elements, vibrant colours and highly adorned furniture and accessories. The house experiences a magical dance of shadows through the wooden pergolas, slits on the frontal elevation and huge fenestrations on all the rooms. The living room opens up to the external courtyard spaces which inturn adds a voluminous formal breakfast space overlooking the pooja court, that is directly accessible from the entry foyer. The staircase as an element separates the formal living room from the dining area, serving as the focal point of the home. The idea of having a Moroccan home is majorly achieved through the imposition of hand-plastered walls, arches, geometric designs and impressive stone works. Kudos to the local artisans for this intricate crafty construction.

Choosing an earthy colour palette reflecting the desert hues for the shell was imperative for the architects. Beige and sand colour textures along with creatively crafted tiles complement the surroundings. Lighting of the entire home was accentuated with lamps and pendants of geometric shapes made of stained glass with a tinge of wood. Hanging

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decorative mirrors with deeply carved wooden framework and onion dome shaped frames for the mirrors in the restrooms added to the interior value of the home. The landscape design manicured a crucial role in establishingconnect between this Moroccan and Indian bled house and its existing surroundings. TiHg