“Home is the culmination of the body, mind, and spirit. The physical aspect of the home, the materiality used in these spaces and harmoniously blending them together was thus, an important part.” – Sudhir PS

Nestled within the gated community of Sarjapur, Bengaluru, the Bhakti Residence is home to the architects Gowri Rao and Sudhir PS, who set to design this house for themselves. Inspired by the abundance of greenery surrounding the corner plot in layers, the design of this residential villa seeks to embrace nature and enhances that.

Planned traditionally – using elements that the duo mutually treasured in their childhood – this residence plays with a variety of spatial volumes and strategic fenestrations that are incepted in a well-thought response to the local climate of Bengaluru. Additionally, despite being rooted in tradition, these elements have evolved to assume a contemporary form.

With the objective of designing a home that houses not only their basic requirements but also their expressions of emotions, Rao and PS help unpack what the thought process behind this abode looked like.

FACT FILE

SITE AND PLANNING

The Bhakti Residence intelligently leverages the benefits that the corner plot had to offer. Namely, the promise of free faces in the north and east to capture light and being able to shut off the southern and western facades where the harsh heat would strike the house from.

The conception of the abode’s design began with the courtyard which makes up the focal point of the plan and the habitable spaces all springing around it on three sides. The utilities and service areas are then tucked away towards the rear of the plot.

TRADITIONAL BUT CONTEMPORARY

With the vision of keeping in touch with the traditional, the house is adorned with materials and architectural elements rooted in the old. These elements, however, have been tastefully redesigned to fit into the modern context.

Upon stepping through the pedestrian entry – fashioned after the traditional Chettinad temple entryways, the kind where one has to bow to seek passage into the space inside – one feels transported to a different space altogether upon rising up.

The courtyard immediately draws attention and continues to be an active visual element in all the rooms on the ground floor – living, dining, kitchen, and deck. It is flanked by a verandah, as is typical in traditional courtyard houses, but again in a sleeker, contemporary form.

SOURCING LOCALLY

The Bhakti Residence is a work of art – not just architecturally but quite actually. Every space inside has been articulated using some form of traditional craftsmanship. The entire house is built using natural materials, to begin with. The external façade retains its unpolished, organic look to keep it natural and uses a lime plaster finish, which the architects chose to allow the surfaces to be breathable.

The intricate wooden entryway to the complex and the natural stone compound wall with its raw finish all keep to the theme and employed the collaborative effort of local artisans.

In the interiors, more glimpses of the contemporary-traditional interplay are displayed in pieces such as the refurbished antique pillar that welcomes one into the lobby, the custom-made furniture made out of refurbished wood or even the vegetation in the courtyard that comprises local plantations including a vegetable garden as one would expect to find in a house of old.

PLAY OF VOLUMES

The residence incorporates layered planning. The ground floor space is majorly taken up by the courtyard, acting as the lungs of the structure with the open-planned kitchen, dining and living areas embracing it in a C-shape. Semi-open spill-out areas add diversity to the spatial volumes on this level.

The mid-level, which houses the family space, is positioned aptly as a space that remains visually connected with the lower level. This keeps in line with the architects’ fundamental desire for the space to reflect the family’s close-knitness.

Finally, in the private upper layer of the house lies the master bedroom, a study and a double-height bridge that connects both the daughters’ bedrooms.

The planning makes a decisive effort in maintaining the visual close-knit quality throughout all its volumes to nurture the corresponding familial values. It does so by allowing levels to peek into one another and by eliminating as many boundaries as possible between the built and unbuilt spaces.

MATERIALITY

Bhakti Residence does not shy away from showing off the materials it is made out of. The mezzanine on the mid-level flaunts its wooden flooring, while the walls contrast its warmth stoically with their stones. The flooring on the ground floor is a cool, blue-pigmented concrete that compliments both, the natural concrete texture of the walls and the ceiling on this level as well as the warm hues of the wooden furniture scattered out.

More materials join this artistic fare such as the wardrobe shutters made of glass with rattan sandwiched within, a refurbished wooden headboard accentuating the master bedroom, and visually-light staircases fabricated out of steel.

Every material used in this abode has been woven into its fabric harmoniously with the house in turn proudly capturing the essence of each and blending it all together – much like a family.

Catch the complete conversation with the architects, along with the comprehensive video documentation that is available on our website. Additionally, while you are there, don’t miss out on browsing other stunning residential projects in Bengaluru.