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Manoj Ladhad & Sandeep J. Stacked House (Bengaluru)
The house is designed for a retired Scientist from the Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute (IPIRTI) Bangalore. There was an existing house on this site and the client wanted to renovate this house and add a new house to cater to two generations of the same family. The existing house was designed by the client earlier and thus he shared an emotional connect with the house which was too addressed to by a sensitive intervention to add in the new and control change. The site is a 400sqm with a steep drop of 2.5 meters from northeast to the southwest. It is flanked by roads on the north and western edges. An existing three bedroom house built by the client in the early eighties negotiated this sloped terrain. The brief was to use this structure and add a three bedroom unit on it for his son's family.
FIRM NAME Architecture Paradigm PRINCIPAL ARCHITECTS Sandeep J. Manoj Ladhad Vimal Jain EDUCATION/AFFILIATION Bachelor of Architecture, B.M.S College of Engineering Bangalore COA, IIA, IIID BUILT UP AREA 4500 sq.ft. TEAM SIZE 40 people CONTACT No 26, 4th B Cross, Koramangala Industrial Layout, Off Hosur Main Road, Koramangala, Bangalore 560095, INDIA T +91 080 2553 6750 E sandeep@architectureparadigm.com W www.architectureparadigm.com
PRODUCTS/VENDORS Paint: Asian Paints CP Fittings / Sanitaryware: Grohe, Da Vinci Furniture: Various brands Furnishing: Various brands Flooring: Marble Centre, Hindustan Marbles & Granite Kitchen: Finexibit, Faber, Carysil CONSULTANTS/CONTRACTORS Structural: B. L. Manjunath & Co. Civil: Kumar Constructions Landscape: Architecture Paradigm HVAC: In-house PMC: In-house
subliminal Design for the stacked house examines these parameters in the context of two families spread over three generations co-existing while retaining their personal identities. The house establishes a strong relationship with the outdoor spaces (un-built spaces) in the context of tight urban conditions. The use of layers helps in establishing varying degrees of transparency and dissolving boundaries between in and outside. Being connected to the neighbourhood through this brings in a sense of security while maintaining privacy. The double height volumes are linked to establish a strong connect with the different levels. Flexibility is carefully considered to enable different possibilities of usage over time. This is exhibited in the open-ended use of one of the rooms in lower as well as upper level units, integration of indoor and outdoor spaces or the open plan with minimum use of internal masonry partitions especially in the upper unit allows multiple possibilities of usage at a later date.
Top Left: View of the living room from the deck Top Right: The living room Bottom Left: The cantilevered second floor as seen from the breakout space on the first level
“The dialogue between the old and the new and the relation between the two houses is very amusing. The project is about exploring this notion of joint family culture in the changing urban scenario.�
Top Left: View of the living room from entry Top Right: Dining room Bottom Left: View of entry lower house Bottom Right: Bedroom
imaginative surfaces
Left: Entry foyer - lower house Right: View of passage overlooking the double height space
The idea of stacking and labyrinth as expression of private realm is supported with the use of materials and detail. Glass skylights, ferroconcrete and glass bottle panels, conical skylight cum ventilation device, the wooden screens and pergolas explores the medium of light as a tactile material lending character to each of the spaces. Passive strategies like rain water harvesting, solar water heating, terrace gardens along with efficient planning and conscious use of low energy materials are used. There are renewable materials like timber renders this project an environmentally sensitive attempt. The material palette apart from locally available material like natural stone, wood glass and steel explores unconventional technologies like oxide flooring tiles; earth plastered walls, ferroconcrete and precast technologies. The expression stems out of a will to create spaces which are intimate, warm and memorable while accommodating the sensibilities of changing lifestyles.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
FLOOR PLAN 1. ENTRANCE
13. MULTIPURPOSE AREA / STUDIO
2. LIVING
14. POOL
3. DINING
15. SERVANT ROOM
4. PUJA
16. SUNKEN SEATING
5. KITCHEN
17. BALCONY
6. STORE
18. LANDSCAPED COURT
7. UTILITY
19. STUDIO
8. MASTER BEDROOM 9. TOILET 10. BEDROOM 11. DECK 12. TREE COURT
the challenges The existing building posed a challenge as it was load bearing structure. And few of the internal walls had to be removed while taking into consideration the weight of the gardens above. A simple system of Columns and beams has been strategically introduced to support this idea. The inverted beams strengthened the existing slabs while accommodating the weight and depth of the lawn above. The cantilever of 4.5M in the south-eastern corner provides the wooden deck at the first level ample shade and also adds to the expression of stacking.
the influences The design process refrains from and avoids being directly influenced by “styles” and notions of visual references. However the process does use the principles of modern architecture to understand and resolve issues of “Site” “context” “climate” “Location” “Culture” and other factors to help structure the brief into an identifiable and tangible architecture.
TEXT CREDITS Sandeep J.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS Anand Jaju
Vimal Jain
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