Residential

The Wall and The Whites

Sunil Patil and Associates completes eco-friendly house for art-loving couple

by James 21 December 2009
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    Designed for an industrialist couple with a flair for painting, this residence is a home, a studio and a gallery rolled into one. Their love for art led to the realisation of the core element of this house; 'The Wall'.

    The concept is simple, consisting of a wall which runs from the front to the back compound wall dividing the house into two zones; the living, dining and kitchen constituting the common zone and the master bedroom and guest bedroom constituting the private zone. Interconnection between the two zones is achieved by well-designed openings in the wall.

    The wall, a panel for the display of their paintings, is illuminated throughout the day by sunlight pouring in through a skylight placed above it.The guest bedroom can be converted into a studio by the use of innovative furniture design.The front and side setbacks have been utilised to enhance internal spaces by introducing landscape greens. The spaces freely flow outwards from the house into the beautiful landscape through large openings.

    A small tree placed on a podium with a skylight directly above, inspired by the traditional PAR (an Indian traditional platform created around a banyan tree for informal seating), provides a perfect backdrop for the living area, the dining area and the bar.The house is energy efficient and eco-friendly by use of natural resources. Use of artificial lighting during the day has been eliminated due to the provision of various skylights and openings. The use of large openings, providing natural ventilation, led to minimised use of air conditioning.

    The wall is treated with tandoor stone, giving it a rough grey texture, a perfect background for the paintings. Other elements have been treated with different materials, all in white. Eco- friendly materials are used. Innovative use of glass & laminate creates a new material for the kitchen dado. The bar counter & the dining table are designed with in-built lighting. The water bodies outside the dinning & studio are lit with LED lighting.

    India

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