A sense of lightness and spaciousness in Cardinal

This house is illustrative where the client’s personality is reflected in the design. The sharp lines with the contrast in material for the characteristic language of the house. The villa is designed based on the axis which separates the public spaces from the private spaces. In an urban city like Ahmedabad, with no immediate views around this villa of about 10,000 sq. ft sits on a half-acre plot. One can have a direct view of the single height porch with the east facade of the villa in the backdrop, as one drives in the residence from east surrounded by landscape The white porch seems to be the contrast with the villa. It appears just like a mass protruding out; forming a welcoming gesture for the guest arriving at the house. The axial planning along with Vastu defines the functions of the house. The north and south form the passage space with greens to look at the end. The east and west, divide the public space from private in form of courtyards and also act as light shafts. The design allows adequate light and ventilation to be entered in the house throughout the day which is designed keeping in mind the harsh hot climate of Ahmedabad. The passage is flanked by the entrance lobby, temple, and kitchen on either side. The informal living and dining area double-height volumes to enhance the feeling of grandeur within the space. Going further south, on one side is the formal living and guest bedroom opening up to the landscape, and the staircase and the parents’ bedroom on the other. The staircase forms the sculptural element to look at from the formal living. While on the first floor we have the master bedroom, the daughter’s bedroom, and a home theatre for the family to enjoy a private time. The client were strict followers of religion, where they dint believe in the idea of having green lawns. They couldn’t step on the grass since the Jains believe that there are infinite lives there and they would be crushing it by having to walk on it. The idea was to create a balance of the soft and hardscape, where they wouldn’t step on any greens and the lawn shouldn’t just be filled hardscape. The achieve this, the greens in the form of shrubs trees were placed at the periphery. Water bodies and sculptures formed the focus in the lawn area. The hardscape was designed in various patterns and materials making the lawn look beautiful. The driveway had pavers radiating from the drop-off point forming a ripple pattern. The house is designed using a muted color palette and earth shades to make the space feel warm. This is continued throughout the house giving a sense of entirety. Earthy tones and warm light being the chic and elegance of the house. The exterior flow in a homogenous color scheme and accents of corten steel is introduced to add character to the design. The huge wall of corten steel popping out of the gray frame of the structure acts as a striking feature of the house. The sidewalls on the north and south are finished with this material, giving a sense as they are holding the block together. The elevation of the house strikes a modern & contemporary note in an urban milieu.