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Kiran Venkatesh R Residence (Bengaluru)
The house is sited on a small urban plot of 40' x 60' in south Bangalore. It is designed for a businessman's family. The brief was crystal clear - A unique attractive design with interesting spaces for living. The envelope for the house is developed as a continuously looped surface; from the ramped steps at the gate, the surface curves upwards defining live-eat-sleep functions as it moves skywards to the final terrace. The curved surface defines all aspects of the house - form, function, openings, furniture, etc. Along the street, the building faรงade is defined by forward and backward leaning curving surfaces. A terrace garden, one and a half height children's room with a mezzanine and openings synchronized along the curving profiles accentuate the curved geometry.
FIRM NAME InFORM Architects PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT Kiran Venkatesh EDUCATION/AFFILIATION B.Arch Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur M.Arch Ohio State University, Columbus
PRODUCTS/VENDORS Paint: Asian Paints Royal Acrylic Emulsion Furniture: Custom designed Flooring: White Synthetic marble and natural wood flooring combination Kitchen: Zenia, Corian Air Conditioning: LG Lighting: Assorted vendors CONSULTANTS/CONTRACTORS
BUILT UP AREA 4734 sq.ft. TEAM SIZE 50 people CONTACT #422, II Floor [Above SBI], 9th Main, Banashankari II Stage, Bangalore 560070, INDIA T +91 80 2671 3360 / 3361 / 3362 E general@informarchitects.com W www.informarchitects.com
Structural: Integrated Structural Associates Civil: Kundur Constructions Pvt Ltd Mechanical, Electrical: Meca Engineers Plumbing: H. M. Nagesh
curvaceous As one enters the site through the gate, the surface is split into multiple strips - one goes down to the basement as a driveway for the cars, another steps up to the main door with a flanking ramp and a third one curves down to basement garden granting external access to the parking and rear setbacks. Once inside the house, the curved surface of the steps continues as the floor which curves onto the wall and then the ceiling. The materiality of the surface - a pixelated black and white mosaic is maintained throughout its looped movement. The surfaces of the house and various elements are all mostly white.
Left: Exterior View Right: Living Room with curving end wall
“Conceptually, through its curving profile and open section, the house seeks to integrate the various components of use and occupancy into a seamless continuum. The intent is to allow the space to enable closer interactions and prevent splintering.�
Top Left: View from Living Room Top Centre: View of kitchen from dining Top Right: Kitchen Bottom Left: Dining and Kitchen Bottom Right: Kids Bedroom
an artistic expression The living room has a curving display unit with a television. As one turns around, the upward journey continues through a stair. On the right of the stair is the dining space with a semi-open Puja room under the stair. The kitchen is open, white and has a tall island counter as well. As one moves to the first floor, the looped movement continues upward to the second / terrace floor. The master bedrooms suite is entered off the main landing and comprises of a seating area with television viewing space, a bedroom and a bathroom. On the same level, there is a second bedroom for the kids - a tall room with a mezzanine space that is a study cum rumpus room for the children. Within the envelope, the open section encourages visual and aural connectivity among the various programs of the ground and first floors. This keeps the family in close contact and also ensures security due to direct over-sight. The upward journey continues along the stairs - the floor is the same material as the loop below: black and white glass mosaic tiles. The top floor comprises of an entertainment space, a bedroom and a terrace garden with seating. A uniform predominantly white palette is maintained throughout the house with restricted accent colors for elements such as bathroom walls, high-lighter walls etc. The flooring is white marble, red rubber floor in the kids' bedroom and wood in the upper bedroom. As families shrink in size and time spent in digital space increases, it becomes the design's imperative to address the issue - either by exaggerating the difference or by resisting it. The design for R Residence seeks to enable closeness and familial interaction through its open and internally networked volumes.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
1. MAIN ENTRY
1. MASTER SUITE
1. HOME THEATRE
2. LIVING ROOM
2. MASTER TOILET
2. GUEST BEDROOM
3. DINING
3. PASSAGE
3. GUEST TOILET
4. PUJA ROOM
4. KIDS BEDROOM
4. OPEN TERRACE
5. GARDEN
5. KIDS TOILET
5. KIDS STUDY
6. KITCHEN
6. BALCONY
7. STORE 8. UTILITY 9. POWDER ROOM 10. MASTER BEDROOM 11. TOILET
the challenges
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
The curving inclined façade offered a challenge in design and execution. Also, due to the profile of the openings, the windows within them had to be designed with unique details for each of them. Several tricky junctions had to be resolved in the design to allow for seamless construction without losing design intent in conversion to reality.
the influences “The design is predominantly rendered in black and white with a few bold accent colors in selected locations. The idea was to create vibrant spaces filled with bright and quality light and in other cases to have dark ambient spaces.” - Kiran Venkatesh
TEXT CREDITS Kiran Venkatesh
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS Clare Arni
Shankar Ramakrishnan
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