City: BENGALURU

Name & Location: Nitesh Buckingham Gate, Bangalore

Cost of Project: (INR) 150 Cr.

Built-up area: 52,000 sq ft (5,000 Sqmt)
(In case of Public Building minimum built-up area should be 1000 sq. meter)

Description of Project:

This upmarket apartment building in the heart of the city contains 12 flats in a four storey building. The challenge was to provide something more than just an adequate space for living stacked in repetitive floors. Hence every apartment has a combination of uniquely linked spaces of differing scales to demarcate public and private areas, with all areas well lit with large windows and continuous balconies.

Materials of Construction Details:

The building is concrete framed structure with concrete block walls

Main staircases – Structured steel with wooden cladding

Railing – Toughened glass

French windows – Toughened glass with wooden frames

Flooring – Italian marble

Outer screen – Glass reinforced concrete with steel framework

Hard landscape – Natural stone & wooden decking

Special Features:

The design seeks to make the room open to nature, yet give the required privacy and shelter from direct solar heat gain. This achieved through two layers of skin on the building – an outer layer of glass reinforced concrete louvres, and an inner layer of sliding wood louver screens. The treatment of these external skins works to bring a warm yet contemporary aesthetics to the building, which is responsive to climate and privacy needs.

Name & Location: HULIKANU MANE, HULIKANU ESTATE, CHIKMAGALUR DISTRICT, KARNATAKA

Cost of Project (INR): RUPEES THIRTEEN LAKHS

Built-up area: 80 SQ. METER
(In case of Public Building minimum built-up area should be 1000 sq. meter)

Description of Project:

The thickly wooded site is located on the edge of the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Chickamagalur. The brief was to design a retreat where the client — a renowned wildlife scientist — could observe wildlife and write.

The house measuring 8 m × 10 m is elevated on stilts with a veranda all around to facilitate the viewing of wildlife. At the ground level there is a store room and toilet and the deck above forms a sheltered parking space. At the upper level a large room serves as the living, dining and kitchen space, besides which there is a bedroom and toilet.

Materials of Construction Details:

The predominant construction material is bamboo which forms the framework of the roof and the roofing sheets. The deck is made of a prefabricated MS framework with interlocking aerated concrete panels. The rustic look and feel is further strengthened by the use of bamboo railings, bamboo ply furniture, cane chairs and lampshades.

Special Features:

A solar photovoltaic system provided meets the power requirement while the biomass heater meets the hot water requirements — rendering the house completely self-sufficient.

 

The Board of Trustees who were managing the 25-year old hospice decided to expand their patient-care reach and extend their services into training and research.  

As palliative care is still at an early stage of development, the approach to improve it in the future had to include education, training and research. The KIPCER Centre which was born out of this earnestness had to accommodate an Outpatient Department to aid the Hospice care. This is a social project envisioned and implemented by a group of highly dedicated and committed people with funds raised through donors.

A 100-seater auditorium, 3 classrooms, Guest room accommodations, Canteen and a Charity shop were part of the requirements in addition to the office spaces.

The project located in the existing Hospice campus, occupies around 2 acres of the 5 acre property. This land upon which quite a few trees existed was surrounded by internal roads on all 4 sides. The design intent was to preserve all the existing trees. As a result the built envelope weaves around the existing trees.

The buildings are arranged in a north-south direction and are accessed from the west. The treatment rooms and service areas are located on the eastern side.  Based on the existing arrangement of trees, the largest open area has been allotted to the Institute and Auditorium.

The OPD which has an entry from the Hospice side is designed as a compact one-floor block around a small pool. The central waiting area opening onto the water body and the greenery on the other side linked all the facilities of the OPD. The Canteen is built as an open pavilion adjacent to a reflective pool.   

The training centre facilities are grouped around a central area which has the open spaces, amphitheater and the waiting lobbies. These transition spaces seamlessly flow from one to another function. The spaces double up as multifunctional and informal spaces for interaction, catering to the needs of the classrooms and Auditorium. While the amphitheater works as an informal classroom, the double height sky-lit lobby is used as a pre-function area for the Auditorium as well as a breakout area for the classrooms. A large painting on the wall of this lobby becomes a focal point of this entire voluminous area.

Light as an element enhances the spaces in different forms. The play of shadows in the double height atrium and the diffused light in the mango/neem tree courts bring in variations of light enhancing the quality of the spaces.

Locally available Grey granite stone is used on the walls in a rough form. Entire colour palette in the common areas is grey and white tone. Inside the auditorium a bit of beige and light brown shades are introduced to bring in a warm feel.

Transition spaces flowing from one to another, modulation allowing free flow of air, numerous interaction spaces, porosity woven into the built structure, effectively connecting the indoor and the outdoor are the main features of the project.

 

Divya Shanthi Christian Association & Trust added this multi-program building facility as an extension to its school and children’s home campus, located in a low-income neighborhood of Bangalore city. The architectural intent was to synthesize a complex design brief into a pleasant, comfortable living environment – but also to form a coherent neighborhood landmark that exudes positivity and optimism, emerging as a beacon of hope.

The building houses multiple programs that complement the needs of both the existing school campus, as well as a larger neighborhood community. It includes children’s dormitories and a senior girl’s transition home, teacher training center, primary healthcare clinic, a community library, science labs, dining hall and additional facilities for the school.

Given the limited footprint available in a tight urban situation, the program is stacked at multiple levels. The plan allows for both necessary controls, including stringent security-privacy for the girl’s residences, and connectivity: with the neighborhood backstreet and within the existing school building and campus.

The new building design re-interprets the architecture of a traditional ‘verandah’, a transitional area that functions variously as a climatic buffer, movement corridor, and a social space – adapting the concept to a contemporary multi-level urban structure. A flat concrete structural slab soffit and ‘free plan’ permit maximum flexibility in the internal subdivision of space to accommodate changing needs – both of specific programs currently on different floors, as well as catering to future iterations.

It incorporates a double skin façade enclosure: the outer skin comprises a layer of bent steel louvers, while the inner combines an operable glazing system with opaque walls. The louvers shade the glazing, shelter movement corridors and informal social spaces; while providing security and privacy.

The inner glazing effectively protects assigned program spaces from inclement weather and provides acoustic separation when needed; while allowing deep penetration of diffused daylight and cross-ventilation.

The indoor massing, simulates a micro-urban environment, with ‘interior streets’ between different color coded program ‘blocks’ that are articulated to suggest street edge furniture and invite human occupation. The interior ambience is characterized by color, cross transparency, and reflectiveness that is set against raw concrete surfaces of the building structure.

Viewed from outside the building presents an enigmatic image with interior color splashes echoing bold synthetic colors of neighborhood houses – combining shadows, reflections, and transparency filtered through a veil of steel louvers.

The building engages with the local community at multiple levels. The children’s home offers a caring and secure environment for those without family support. They receive an education at Divya Shanthi school which also caters to kids from the locality. There is extensive accommodation for girls which also includes a transition home that prepares young women to become independent and eventually move out into the world. A well-equipped dining facility offers mid-day meals to all students while also serving the children’s home.

Additional facilities that benefit the community include a special needs school program and a teacher training facility. The library primarily serves the school but is also intended for use by people from the locality. A street level primary healthcare center provides quality medical services, including doctor consultancy, day care bed facility, testing lab and a pharmacy – to the poor, free of cost.

 

While conceiving the architecture for this home in Ahmedabad, one of our primary drivers was a response to the hot and dry summers in the city, with average daytime temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius.

The form of the house is derived from its climatic orientation as well as shading devices that keep the internal spaces cool. Deep verandahs and overhangs, horizontal pergolas and vertical louvers gently filter the fierce sun. Strategically placed apertures promote cross ventilation, while reducing heat gain.

We oriented the double height living space to have permeable and shaded verandahs on its east and west to take advantage of the outdoors, the morning and evening light as well as east to west breezes. The east verandah faces an intimate pool-court while its counterpart on the west overlooks an abundance of landscaped green. Two existing old neem trees were accommodated in the building design to enhance shade in the west. The north wall of these verandahs are clad in a grooved and patterned pink sandstone and witness an ever changing play of sciagraphy on their surface throughout the day.

Materials and Construction Details

In such climates, the goal is to use materials and surfaces that would reflect rather than absorb heat. In the landscape there is a liberal use of brick paving interspersed with greenery and 80% of the roofs are clad with Clay tiles. Expanses of Glass are minimized and always protected by generous overhangs. All bedrooms on the southern face have double walls to reduce heat gain.

All materials are natural and locally sourced. Clay Bricks are used in construction, accent walls in a pink sandstone, cast-in-situ Terrazzo flooring , Kota stone and reclaimed timber for roof cladding. Doors and windows are made from a sustainable plantation ‘Accoya’ wood.

Cross ventilation is important in all the rooms and the result is evident as the East-West summer breezes pass over the swimming pool in the east, through the living room and onto the west verandah.

The design moves ensure reduced heat gain and less reliance on mechanical cooling. Since there is an abundance of sun in India, we have filtered natural light through the space to eliminate the use of light bulbs during the day.

Special Features:

One of the most exciting elements of the house experientially is the circulation to the first floor. A sculptural corten steel staircase connects both levels and leads to a bridge that spans 30ft across a double height living space connecting two sections of the house and leading into an entertainment lounge. The circulation plays protagonist in defining the spatial experience.

There are three trapezoidal roofs that envelope the double height living room as well as the upper level bedrooms. The one above the living space admits a soft quality of north light into its volume. The roofs are clad on their underside with the warmth of wood veneer and contrast with the cool beige terrazzo floors that extend through the home.

Project Credits:

Architects: Khosla Associates

Principal Architects: Sandeep Khosla and Amaresh Anand

Project Team: Sandeep Khosla, Amaresh Anand, Nikhil Shetty, Anusha Y.S, Nisarg Shah and Jesuvi Packiam

Structural Engineer: S & S Associates

Civil Contractors: Gaurav Shah and JDE Consultancy

Custom Furniture: Mangrove Collective

Landscape Design: Ashish Teli

Anil Kush residence

The site is a part of a gated community, located on the outskirts of Bangalore close to one of the industrial and technology hub called the Electronic city. It is a flat piece of land measuring 120 ft x 80ft with lot of existing plantation and is bound by a road along the eastern edge. The sub urban setting is idyllic in a way as it creates the feel of being away from the hostilities of the city and being in a paradise when one considers the rampant development which signifies the notion of city. These communities though being on the edge are desirable places for luxury lifestyles which demand a strong relationship with the outdoors, nature.

The attempt is to reflect these aspects directly where the notion of a shelter as a safe haven is complemented by the need to harmoniously coexist with nature. In doing so it takes on the notion of multiple “pavilions in landscape” which explore the extent of the 10,000 square feet plot and its surroundings. These pavilions accommodate living spaces which mediate with the immediate surroundings through envelopes of dynamic and static planes. The dynamic planes are sliding panels which when open literally to bring the outside in converting the house into an open pavilion blurring the boundaries between outside and inside.

The programmatic needs initially were accommodated into an anticipated volume. The process was to take into account the familial need for a distinction between public and private spheres. The idea of distinct volumes OR PAVILIONS for various activities supported this possibility. This also helped us to develop the built around existing trees enmeshing the house and the landscape. The volume is divided into the public and private zones which take on the form of two horizontal bars along the north south separated by large open space in-between. The public zone includes drawing, dining and kitchen areas whereas the private zone largely caters to bedroom spaces. Each of these volumetric bars is modulated to accommodate necessities. The two zones are connected by a movement spine which flows to become the family pavilion in the private part of the house. One of the spaces is taken to the upper level to explore the surroundings and also bring in a sense of personal space considering the requirements of his son. We considered lifting it above the conventional height of 3 meter to a height of 5meter to explore the surroundings and in the process generating multidimensional space which serves as studio library and also a store over the spine connecting the two zones. The idea of the landscape becoming a part of the structure is not only about the experience along the horizontal plane but also along the vertical. Water is introduced as a thermal regulator to cool the house naturally during the hot summers and also to accentuate the outside inside experience, as in three fourth of the house sits on a plate of water which weaves into the spaces and lends to the quality of experience

The experience of moving through the structure is heightened by the tactility of the spaces and the overlapping sequences of built and unbuilt. One is greeted by the water body before entering the house along the central spine. The spine is a space that forms the back bone of the experience where one has to pass through it to get to any other space. The drawing room is seen as an independent pavilion which is connected to main spine through a glass enclosed bridge over the water body. Dining, kitchen store forms the other edge to the public sphere of the house. Here the dining space opens out to the garden and the water body. Water flows into the spine subtly rendering privacy to the personal and family spaces. The TV room sits as pavilion across the dining separated by water enhancing the layered experience. The western side is edged by bedrooms which are sited to have their own pieces of the large garden spaces. Straight flight leads one to the multifunctional space wrapped in glass on top of the spine and further continues to the upper level family which frames the distant landscape with large picture windows. The multifunctional space opens on to the terrace is edged by water body which connects to water at the lower level as a water fall. The bedroom at the uppermost level also works as an extension of the family space at this level by the virtue of the sliding partition system.

Material palette is limited to materials like wood, natural stone concrete which are complemented with plastered walls. Natural light streams through wooden screens which serve as doors and windows and also strategically placed picture windows and sky lights. This lends a quality of lightness and airiness complementing the intended pavilion qualities. This house expresses the essence of living amidst gardens in a rapidly developing place like Bangalore which is on the verge of losing its sobriquet “the garden city”.

 

Sanjay Mohe

IIM Classroom Complex

The classroom block is proposed above an existing building along the main movement axis of the campus. The primary design intent of the classroom block was to strike a chord with the existing campus. The existing columns were strengthened and some new columns were added along the periphery of the proposed building without obstructing the existing building.

The program for the new classroom block was 8 classrooms, discussion rooms and its ancillaries. A wide flight of steps perpendicular to the central spine became the main axis of the classroom block with a court yard as the focal point at the end of the axis. The classrooms flank the wide flight of steps. The ground floor is conceived as an extension of common areas of the campus and therefore is kept barrier free. The ground floor columns are cladded with stone to bind it with the existing campus. The upper levels have exposed concrete surfaces. Importance is given to informal interaction area s which is centred around the belief that these break out spaces will spawn many a novel idea amongst the students.

Another set of wide steps is proposed at the rear end of the classroom block which is in close proximity to the hostel and dining block. These steps double up as amphitheatre and gathering space to hold small events.

The classroom block is made disable friendly by providing ramps and lifts to access all the levels. The classrooms are also disabled friendly by keeping the first row of seats at the same level of corridors. The layout of classrooms and the location of openings are aimed at improving natural air circulation across .The openings are designed with three layered screens which can adapt to all following methods of teaching like lecture, projection, lecture with AC and projection with AC.

On the whole with its unique architecture, the classroom block connects and communicates with the students in a way which will create a lasting impression in their journey of life.

CMR – ITPL,Bangalore

The site is located in Whitefield, Bangalore.

The program includes grades from 1 to 10 ,4 divisions per grade each having a strength of 40 students. 

The vertical transition of the first three floors is very gradual  and is easily accessible. Upper floors are vertically defined.

With the size of the plot becoming a constraint to having green spaces, the section of the building is designed to make up for this inadequacy. The building gets connected visually across its many floors and levels with multiple openings and bridges. Carefully located planters on different levels bring greenery across the school. The stairs and amphitheatres allow visual connectivity and improve accessibility to the different floors. . The layout of classrooms and the location of openings are aimed at improving natural air circulation across the building .As the site has a natural slope of 5m the building is placed following the direction of the terrain. This helps to create a functional multipurpose hall with terraced seating in the lower level and can host prayers and assembly and dining while not being used for sports activities.

The central spine with class rooms and corridors opening into it becomes an activity space. Here provision is made for flexible spaces to hold arts and crafts workshops. Being visually accessible from all the floors, it becomes the focus of interactive events. Even the normally staid corridors get a makeover with display and pin up boards. Walls are cladded with vitrified tiles for easy maintenance.

The openings between classrooms are akin to wind tunnels bringing in constant breeze, improving the air quality across the building. Special care is taken to improve the ventilation and lighting of classrooms with high level vents which don’t compromise privacy. Skylights light up the central spine and corridors and help provide a sense of time with varying light quality across the day and through the seasons. 

On the whole with its unique architecture ,the school connects and communicates with the students in a way which will create a lasting impression in their journey of life.

Rohan Mithila                                                                                                                                       

A cluster of 7storied apartments with 800 flats had to be planned on 13acre land with roads on 3 sides.

Intent was to create a central landscape area where surrounding flats look in to it. A vehicular road on periphery would keep central green totally traffic free.

Entry plaza with its double height colonnades behave as a transition space taking one away from noisy exterior space to the serene interiors. The entries at a higher level allows to view the entire stretch of green and slowly descends along wide cascading steps with water bodies reflecting the space around and making soothing sound of water .Multiple entries are carved out along the periphery, bring transparency in to the built form and breaking the monotony of facade.

Central spine having apartments all around is formed with large green space, which happens at two different levels ,Central green gets carried onto the podium level as well and it is this vocabulary of tranquil cascading landscape that binds together the entire project.  Green wall along the basement facing central space creates visual buffer  for cars.

Along the green space different activities, like coffee shop,library,swimming pools, play area ,gym etc. are located ,this axis culminates in to the focal point where a dynamic composition of clubhouse is placed, having reflective pool in front mirroring the facade  in water thus making the experience more dramatic

Secondary axis is formed as green walk within the apartments amidst green landscaped area accentuated with fountains, sitting areas etc.  giving sense of staying close to nature and visually binding together multiple blocks.

Each apartment is oriented along north south is planned to ensure its own privacy and to get external view, required light and ventilation from every corner. Every unit had to be evolved to make it most functional in terms of furniture arrangement without wasting floor space.

Landscape area is designed to have multiple activities for different age groups to be used during different times of the day and different seasons. Varying  levels are used to create outdoor activities, sitting places, cascading pool, children ‘s play areas etc. The double &triple height colonnades, pavilions of varying proportions would define spaces for interaction-becoming multifunctional spaces.

Scaling of this space to make it’ humane’ was important. This has been achieved through play of built mass and through sequence of layering and using double heights on the facade.

Gaps in between each block of 3meter are akin to wind tunnels bringing in constant breeze. On the whole with its unique architecture ,all spaces connect and communicates with the people, which in turn create a long lasting impression in their respective journey of life.

As the dusk descends, the light in the landscape slowly starts coming to life accenting water bodies and greenery ,changing the feel of entire environment.

The house in Jayanagar is built on a 80

The house is located on a quiet, tree lined street of Jayanagar on a plot of size 50’x 80’.

Requirement was to have a house with plenty of garden spaces and also a place that is conducive for social gatherings. Response was to create an open house while giving utmost importance to privacy needs. Clients were particular about certain aspects of Vaastu, and this constraint was transformed into an architectural advantage organising the activities like dining, living, veranda at different levels cascading from elevated terrace garden on SW to a water body on NE

While comprehending the idea of having abundant natural light and cross ventilation, the clients, at the same time wanted to be able to control the openness of the house to the elements of nature. This requirement resulted in a layer of remote controlled operable louvers under the skylight of double height volumes furnishing the space with a drama of light and shadows. Within this volume are the common areas like living, family spaces with bedrooms overlooking into it creating” an enclosure within an enclosure” . A home theatre, spa and a yoga room sit amidst the terrace gardens on the second floor.

The external surface is predominantly clad with compressed veener with a combination of form finished concrete and ascents of copper patina. The exposed concrete surface is continued onto the inside of the house. Sky lit volume with greenery, continuation of external wooden deck and wrapping of external surface materials onto interiors punctuate the idea of creating a veranda within the house. 

Salient features of the project: Art & Innovation Hub at Agastya Intemational Foundation — Andhra Pradesh

Description of project:

The Art and Innovation hub project has been envisioned with a clear understanding that all sites have stories. So if we designers understand the language of the land, we would be able to design
•sustainably •meaningfully •economically •contextually to the cultural
determinants of the community around and finally have a lighter footprint.

So the questions in our mind weret how do we capture the essence of the strong character of this beautiful site? Will our interaction make or break the landscape?

What we ultimately decided was to build with the lay of the land and we tucked our architectural response into the hill side.

We opened the art and innovation hub to the magnificent view while pulling our spaces into the hills bosom.

To the cut and fill that became the process of integrating our structure to the slopes we added the dimension of covering all our buildings under the sweep of the earth, which eventually was covered with greenery, merging the structure to the surrounding landscape.

“The project explores the possibilities of the built form interacting with the land harmoniously.”

 

 

Materials of construction details:

he built form is predominantly a column and beam structure is kept in grey tone, with exposed concrete columns and ceiling, Local stone retaining wall, cement flooring and structural steel members painted grey.

The uniform colour scheme creates a perfect background, an open canvas to display art and sculptures done by the kids that brings
colour and texture into the interiors. The shale rock available in the terrain is used in combination with the random rubble masonry for the exterior retaining walls and outdoor flooring along with precast panels with leaf imprints.

“The shale rock extends in to the interior for art works blurring lines between inside and outside”.

Special Features:

The valley on both sides of the structure were connected to a series of water holding ponds that not only harvested rain water, but also
recharged the natural aquifer of the land and enhancing the microclimate of the site.

Structural steel members are used for extensions beyond the built form as eyelids, protecting the semi outdoor spaces form rain and sun,
they also allow installation of art works and cast interesting play of light and shadow.

Structural elements are exploited beyond its functionality and seem as art works spread in the interior. The programme is sensitively designed to cater the needs of the rural children and teachers and infuse the idea of large meaning of
sustainability through place based learning.

“The structure seems carved from earth with each space creatively sculpted to suit the requirement along the lay of the land”.