Bhuwalka House

The house was conceived for a young couple and their teen daughter, and the program on this 9,600 sft plot required a basement for car parking, 4 bedrooms, a home theatre, gym and public spaces such as living, dining and kitchen interacting with a large garden.

What drew us to the site in the upmarket Koramangala neighborhood in Bangalore was the number of mature trees that were part of the surrounding streetscape.

The west-facing frontage of the plot has a beautiful tree straddling the compound wall and we were keen to establish a dialogue between the house and the tree.

Our choice on the spatial flow of the house was dictated by the views to the street as well as to the open area and the low-slung house sitting on the adjacent plot to its north.

The anchor of the house is a dramatic double height living area that culminates vertically in a sweeping butterfly shaped roof, orienting west and east towards street as well as garden. Walkways on the upper level lead to private bedrooms and interact with the double height volumes of the staircase shaft on one side and the living area on the other.

Copious amounts of natural night bathe this area via a series of skylights while louvered operable blinds allow for controlled light and views via large expanses of glass on the east and west elevations.

The house is richly layered and textured with a judicious mix of materials, which extends into the choice of furniture, furnishings and artwork. The large expanses of Jaiselmer yellow sandstone are juxtaposed with the warmth of timber on the sloping roofs, polished cement and exposed concrete on wall and ceiling surfaces and a linear wall painted a deep ink blue.