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Smaran Mallesh, principal architect at Cadence Architects, and his team designed this five-bedroom, 15,000-square-foot independent Karnataka home for a homeowner in the mining field. It reflects the client’s lavish lifestyle and has a living room, family space, kitchen, puja room, study area, and a powder room. The brief was to ensure that the home was Vastu-compliant, well-lit, and ventilated. “He wanted the home to have a generous foreground in the form of a garden for get-togethers and parties where he can entertain family and friends,” says Mallesh.
The north-facing site has been conceptualised as a series of volumes coalesced together. “To achieve this fluidity in the space, we looked at a section that varies along the length of the home. The varying roof levels created a play of volumes and spaces in the interior making it a sensorial experience,” he adds.
As Hospet has a hot climate throughout the year, the plan was designed in a manner that it blocks the sun in the west and the south. The home itself opens towards the garden in the north and the east. The traditional open-to-sky courtyard has been reinterpreted as a ‘landscape platform’ with an operable skylight. “The motorised glazing in the skylight can be opened to allow for the hot air to escape during the day. The muted finishes in the interiors further drape the architectural shell, accentuate the geometry, and render warmth to the space,” says Mallesh.
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"It also helps articulate the varying intensities of natural light within the home, and helps achieve a certain sense of calmness inside,” he adds.
The plan of the home was designed in a manner that all rooms form part of an L and everything else is part of one large open space – including the courtyard, foyer, formal and informal living space, central courtyard, and staircase. “We wanted modulation of volume and variation of scale so that all the parts have an individual identity and a sense of place within the space. An inclined roof was a way to achieve this. The volume thus differs from one space to the other but it is still interconnected with the rest of the home,” says the architect.
The living space is interconnected with the landscape using large windows and a skylight. There is a spot of greenery with a tree that connects the outside and inside. The bedrooms feature walk-in wardrobes, balconies and seating nooks.
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The villa mostly used a single, white marble from Italy in most rooms for the flooring. The team did not use any decorative lighting in this Karnataka home, but the architectural lighting accentuates the forms and shapes conceived in the interiors. Products from Linealight- Italy and XAL- Austria have been used for the lighting.
All the furniture of the home was picked from different international brands like Poliform, Ligne Roset, Saba Italia, Gamma, Cattelan Italia and Vibieffe. “The furniture was picked depending on the mood we wanted to create in each of the rooms. The colours, textures and prints were chosen to complement the muted palette that formed the backdrop,” says Mallesh.
“The biggest challenge with the project was working with a local contractor from Hospet on a fairly complex structure. We communicated through drawings, digital and physical models to execute the project,” he says. But the efforts clearly paid off when the client found this home as a true extension of his personality.
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