House Amidst Trees – Bhavnagar, Gujarat.

Introduction:

The House is located amongst a large estate property at the outskirts of Bhavnagar for a young dynamic couple and their two young daughters. The client’s brief was to have a contemporary house with an open feel and lively spaces to reflect their personality. The site itself had a mixture of full grown trees and some young trees. The design of the house was woven around these trees by creating various courtyards, water-bodies and light wells that enhanced inside-outside relationship between spaces.

The house has three main parts

the formal with the living and entertainment areas.

the semi private with the kitchen and dining.

the private with the master bedroom, kid’s bedroom and the family room.

The formal living space is connected to the dining and the entertainment areas which all overlook onto a L-shaped lap pool. The lap pool is further continuous with a clear water body that extends up to the dining area. A series of stepping stone like platform steps connect the living space with a open green lawn space. The guest rooms along with the gymnasium are located at the upper level and are connected by a steel and wood stair. A double height travertine clad space connects the staircase void with the entrance area.

Materials:

The house uses three essential material finishes for its expression on the outside which come together as planes that help in defining volumes, punctured or separated by openings.

a form finished concrete wall which forms the main walls in one direction that connect the inside and the outside,

an exterior black slate wall that has travertine cladding on the inside,

a sand faced plaster surface that wraps around the building.

The floor in the house is a continuous surface that modulates with textures and connects to the various landscaped courtyard through variations in texture that further helps blur the boundaries between the inside and outside. The pool side has a wooden deck which uses recycled wood from the ship breaking yard at Alang.

The entrance to the house has one of the Guest Bedroom cantilevered above and is surrounded by a lotus pond. The Entertainment room and Living room connect to the pool edge through large wooden sliding doors while the travertine and wooden dining table connect to the swimming pool in a direct axial relationship. The Master Suite and Children’s room both have toilets with private courtyards that enhance one’s experience of nature. The presence of trees is seen throughout every space of the house and they are an integral part of each space.