A Tadao Ando-Inspired Compact House In Bengaluru
“A takeaway from this project was learning to be collaborative with the clients.” — Lester Rozario
The client for the Weathered House lived in Japan for a while before moving back to India. Inspired by the works of Tadao Ando — specifically his brutalist use of exposed concrete — they wanted to incorporate those elements in their home, but on a budget. Architect Lester Rozario tells Buildofy the design journey of this house in a warm sit-down.
FACT FILE
Location | Banshankari, Bengaluru, Karnataka |
Plot Area | 2,372 sq. ft. |
Build-Up Area | 2,500 sq. ft. |
Number of Rooms | 4 |
Completion Year | 2022 |
Vastu Compliance | Yes |
SITE SITUATION
Situated on a plot of 2,372 sq. ft. with a straight view of the Turahalli forest, this piece of land is part of the municipal area called BDA. The only constraint on the plot was a tree growing smack in the front area which was going to be hiding the house from view. Initial plans debated if this tree should be chopped off, however, the final was drafted retaining it. Eventually, the building just morphed around the tree, accommodating it as a part of the house design.
Bengaluru’s characteristic climate is moderate, with summers tending to get hot. The planning responds to this pattern by allowing spaces that do not require air conditioning during the warmer days, relying on cross ventilation to keep the interiors comfortably cool.
COMPACTLY PLANNED
The homeowners are Techies by profession, both with varying voices. The house has been designed as a place of residence for them and their visiting grandparents.
The design has also been strongly influenced by the design philosophy of the Japanese architect, Tadao Ando — something that the clients were exposed to and inspired by during their time spent in Japan. To align with that, the house embraces the use of exposed concrete as its primary finishing material and has a minimalistic theme.
Working off of a regular rectangular site, the footprint is a result of practical subtractions created for the car parking, the tree in the front, and an internal courtyard.
WHAT’S INSIDE
The single-flight staircase greets one upon entering the house, where it acts like a backdrop to the living space on the ground floor. The material shifts from the black flooring outside to a whitish concrete flooring in the living area that offsets the greys of the ceiling and the walls. A garden and the courtyard flank the living area on two sides, engulfing it with ample greenery. To ensure that the room is well-lit, a slit of clerestory windows line the walls. These reflect light off from the ceiling so that the rooms remain lit even when the doors and windows are closed.
The dining area — in line with traditional Indian customs — is a space where the clients settle on the floor to eat food. As a result, the design of the modern dining room has evolved here to offer a space that allows that. The room has a centre table that doubles up as a storage unit and the space overlooks the courtyard.
The furniture scheme throughout is warm and woodsy, with an occasional pop of colour incorporated in the form of the sofa in the living room or throw pillows in the bedrooms.
On the upper level, the master bedroom takes up the west corner of the plan, peeping onto the central courtyard. The west-southwest zones have been devoted to the utilities, the master bath and the walk-in wardrobe.
The kids’ bedroom and a third bedroom have been accommodated in the rear of the plan. With the onset of COVID, the third bedroom was repurposed into a study for facilitating work.
The upper floor also has the library adjoining the staircase. It takes on a unique spatial characteristic because of the skylight shining down on the flight of stairs and corten steel installations made from leftover building material. This space uses one of the bikes that the client owns to add an added shade of personality to the abode.
SUNSCREENS AND WOODEN SLATS
On the east side, the central courtyard is instrumental in bringing in the morning sunlight indoors. These areas are shaded by the upper floor plan. The walls are in concrete finish to block the heat of the sun from penetrating.
The master bedroom utilises a balcony to shade the inner areas. Along with the tree blocking the front vantage of the house, the front facade is lined with a screen made of corten steel that filters the light and cuts out the glare from the south side. These spaces continue to be oriented around the central courtyard on the east side.
To match the warm texture of the facade, the house consistently displays wooden furniture and wooden slated accent walls and finishes in the interiors to keep the connection between the exterior and the interiors intact.
With demands for compact homes rising, it is not surprising to see homeowners step in and collaborate with architects on how exactly they would like their limited space to be designed and treated. Watch the spaces of the Weathered House unfold in the complete home tour on Buildofy. Browse for more compact homes on the website to watch detailed walkthrough videos and the complete set of house drawings available along with it.