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- December 9, 2020
- 7:57 am
PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS
Project Type: Residential
Location: Veraval, Gujarat
Size: 10,000 sqft
Architecture Firm: Hiren Patel Architects (HPA)
Website: https://www.hpa.co.in/
Photography credits: Sebastian Zachariah
Website: https://www.phxindia.in/
Associated Contractors:
Asian paints
Locally produced carpentry
Quintessential Indians are people of deep faith, and are practitioners and nurturers of their ethnic backgrounds. Observed worldwide, ethnicity naturally follows an Indian in various forms of expression, no matter where they trod. However, if the means to express is via Architecture, one may wonder,
Can an alien place be welcoming of another culture without drastically subjecting it to conformity?
Multiple factors can come into play for Architectural styles to travel, like the local practice and tradition of the new location, the kind of political climate and social acceptance it preaches.
We are going to explore a certain work of architecture that is anchored to an ethnically different location, far away from its region of inspiration. This intervention showcases a courteous embrace of one culture into another, where the coasts of the North and South of India meet in peaceful unison.
Designed by Hiren Patel Architects, the luxurious 4 bedroom villa for a family from Kerala showcases a unique platform where their culture meets Veraval, a coastal city in Gujarat.
The Architecture of the villa emulates the silhouette of typical country homes of Kerala. Houses along the South Indian coastline are quintessentially characterised by their traditional terracotta tiled roofs. This feature was captured into the intervention not only for its aesthetic identity but for its functional purpose as well, as Veraval encounters torrential downpours amid the monsoon season. Pitched in the midst of expansive tropical inspired landscapes, the traditionally crowned, single-storey building attempts to enhance its ethnic connection via its carefully thought out layout.
The layout of the Kerala abode is strategically planned along a spinal axis, showcasing a staggering arrangement of indoor spaces, semi-open spaces and landscape punctures on either side of this axis. The spaces towards the Eastern end of the axis caters to more communal/public activities, while the Western edge accommodates private bed and bath quarters.
Public/Communal Spaces
Private Spaces
Its layout design on many levels also attempts to marry every indoor space with the circumambient landscaping by introducing semi open spill out spaces, intermediary gardens, private courtyards and water features. Landscape is also used as a tool to subtly partition the private spaces from the public ones.
The confluence of indoor & outdoor spaces
Amid ample ventilation, sunshine and subtle bleeds of landscape seeping into the house, the indoor spaces are adorned with tasteful furnishing and finish. Aesthetically, the interior shell of the villa comprises of white washed brick walls with large sliding glass fenestration (wood framed), dark grey ceramic tile or hardwood floors, white painted false ceiling boards set intermediary to timber polished rafters; setting the most classic canvas for accessorizing. Subtle hints of the local craftsmanship of Gujarat enter the home in the form of wooden furniture and art deco, creating a unique fusion of flavors.
Today the house stands as a beautiful tribute to a family, their South Indian heritage and their love for Gujarat. This example manifests Architecture as a versatile medium of expression, without the need to conform to a place entirely.
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