84 Rocks

The architectural project for a 4-bedroom house with an additional entertainment room on a compact corner plot measuring 40 feet by 40 feet posed several unique challenges and opportunities. Flanked by two roads, one experiencing heavy vehicular traffic, the design had to delicately balance the client’s requirements with the constraints of the site and the architectural vision.

The primary focus was to address three key elements: noise from the road, privacy, and maximizing natural light ingress. To achieve this, the project was conceptualized as a composition of large rocks with life, symbolized by small plants, cropping out from nooks and crannies of the rocky massing. This not only provided a distinctive aesthetic but also served to mitigate noise and ensure privacy, as light was primarily drawn into the spaces from the roof, rather than through traditional windows on the walls.

At the planning level, the ground floor layout was carefully crafted to include a living room, kitchen, and dining area that connected to the parking area. The living room extended to a garden, cleverly concealing and connecting to the guest room simultaneously.
On the first floor, three main bedrooms with walk-in wardrobes and attached toilets were designed around a small, double-height garden, serving as a pivotal space that connected the living room below and the entertainment room on the second level. Additionally, two rooms for the client’s daughters were designed to share an attic space, allowing for creative volumetric massing and maximizing space utilization.
The final floor featured a spacious entertainment room that opened out to a terrace, effectively doubling the available area when the large door between them was opened.

However, the unique form of the building presented structural challenges, with irregular floor-to-floor heights and beams appearing at unusual levels. These challenges were addressed through the use of a composite structural system comprising RCC framed structure and weld mesh with plaster techniques, ensuring the integrity and stability of the building while maintaining the desired architectural vision.
On the exterior, grey was used predominantly to express the strong massing against minor portions of white acting as the background while the interior was washed with a light white color which helps in bouncing light a lot. This is used against a dark flooring in most of the spaces.

The key architectural features of the project constitute a bulky double height massing elevated from the ground, and sitting on a single storey massing, the structuro/aesthetic envelope that folds in and out, interconnected spaces along horizontal and vertical axis, the very well lit interiors.

Overall, the architectural design successfully addressed the constraints of the site and the client’s brief, resulting in a harmonious blend of functionality, aesthetics, and structural innovation.