House 1058

This house in the upscale neighborhood of Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad is characterized by its accentuated and cantilevered timber clad trapezoidal roof forms that hover above the main spaces. A series of staggered rooms with slopes in different directions orient towards the privacy of an internal garden.

The spatial layout maximizes the use of the linear site by dispersing the built form and greenery in equal measure along its length. The family required a segregation of public and private spaces and that was achieved in the vertical section of the house. Public spaces such as living, study, dining, puja, kitchen, guest room and home theatre are housed on the ground floor while the first floor has a master bedroom, two children’s rooms and a family area.

Entrance is via a sun drenched tropical court, which extends into a light filled foyer and then flows into the living room. The living room is a glass pavilion with a hovering timber clad sloping room orienting itself into a tropical garden. The living extends into an ample L-shaped wooden deck that overlooks the central garden.

Experiments were carried out with the roof forms in this project. In order to create the vast cantilevers and shapes for each of the roofs, we had to create an elaborate tubular space frame truss structure, clad it with cement boards from the underside and then apply a final layer of thin slatted timber to it. Insulated white metal deck sheets that help reflect the fierce sun in the region protect the tops of the roofs.  We worked with inverted trapezoidal forms for the study, living, master bedroom and kids room roofs, manipulated their angles, as well as playfully staggered their heights.

The Materials used in the house were an intentional departure from the luxe and bling textures that are typically the preference of people from Hyderabad. A natural earthy palette of local Kota stone was juxtaposed with polished cement, grey sadharhalli granite and teakwood. A bright use of colour on the furniture in hues of reds, yellows and blues contrasts with greys of cement and kota and the warmth of timber.

The furniture and lighting are a judicious mix of locally crafted custom design pieces interspersed with big brands such as Moroso, B&B Italia, Poliform, Moooi and Dedon. Artwork is by Contemporary indian artists Tauseef Khan, Om Surya and Paribantana Mohanty amongst others and vibrant tribal Kilim rugs sourced from Turkey and Morocco.