HOUSE WITH A NEEM TREE
Location:Vadodara
Plot Area:4800 SQ.FT
Built-up Area:4200 SQ.FT
Programme:Homes
Status:Completed
Completion Year:2023
Photographer:Tejas Shah
Introduction
Sitting quietly besides the expansive foliage of a beautiful Neem Tree, the house is located in a nondescript neighborhood in the city of Vadodara surrounded by residential plots. With a great fondness for nature and plants, the doctor couple reached out to us wanting a house that reflects their way of living. One that was simple, functional and one which respectfully accommodates the existing Neem Tree.
The resulting design is an inward-looking courtyard house that reimagines how we inhabit residential spaces. One that is marked by an atmosphere of calmness with hints of the tree and the sky from every corner of the house.
Design Concept
To design a house on a compact plot that creates a sense of awe and spaciousness and also provides for multiple opportunities for the users to engage with the tree visually and physically was a challenging undertaking. This led to the concept of a double-height courtyard house that generously opens to the adjacent Neem Tree. This double-height space with a skylight above acts as the core and anchor of the house that uninterruptedly connects with the other spaces of the house making it into one big continuous space for the users.
The house is conceived as a simple, solid box-like edifice punctuated with recessed openings. Sitting firmly in its surroundings, the exterior of this G+1 structure is articulated with brick and projecting concrete frames. Although conceptualized as an inward-looking plan, the house seamlessly extends into its surroundings by blurring the boundary between the inside and the outside. Light plays a key feature of the house, the bountiful light entering the interiors beautifully transforms the space and elevates the experience for the user.
Spatial Organization
The protruding concrete entrance frame guides the user inside which leads to the heart of the house, the double-height courtyard space. Upon entering, the user is greeted by light flooding the interior space from all the sides. The green courtyard which has all the key spaces arranged around it invites the user to take a pause and connect with nature. While on one side is the dinning area that opens to a small garden the other side expands on to a garden deck that is shaded by the canopy of the Neem Tree. Tucked away in the two corners of the house on the south side is the kitchen and the guest bedroom both enjoying the view of the planters outside. Adjoining the garden is the living room area from where one can see the staircase core on the other side.
The folded concrete staircase placed alongside a glazed wall with a sleek black handrail leads one to the upper level. While ascending, one gets a perpetual glimpse of the Neem Tree owing to the glazed wall and the skylight above. Wrapped around the courtyard is a continuous corridor that opens to a balcony on one side that overlooks the garden below. While the kids and master bedroom is placed on the south side of the house, the study and library area enjoy the view of the garden and Neem Tree. To cut off direct light from entering the interiors, the bedrooms and the study area has been designed to allow for an accessible buffer space between the outer and the inner wall.
Material palette
The house celebrates simplicity in its form, style, and material palette. The use of exposed brick on the exterior facade complements its immediate surrounding and the Neem Tree. The earthy tones and textures continue in the interior spaces with the use of brick for some internal walls, exposed concrete ceiling, and river polished Kota stone for flooring. To add to the overall warmth and intimate quality of the interiors wood and bamboo cane is used for the furniture pieces and artifacts.
The simplicity of its spatial arrangement and its material vocabulary is what gives this house its own unique character. While it demonstrates openness and connectivity it also provides for a private, quiet, and calm living.