Akkalkot. A town in the Solapur district of Maharashtra. Home to the ashram of the famous Hindu spiritual guru Swami Samarth and also his resting place. This local vernacular structure, barely a two-minute walk away from this important pilgrimage centre stands a structure with heavy basalt walls on the lower level that seemingly uphold a perforated expanse of terracotta bricks. An intriguing contemporary presence that often sees curious visitors to the shrine knocking at its door to inquire what lies within.
An ancestral home once stood in its place, on the compact plot surrounded by a close-knit fabric of Akkalkot’s old town. Here, building stands next to building, cheek by jowl, accessed often only by pedestrian paths, separated frequently only by a common wall. When the simple, three-generational family who resided there decided to move with the times and erect a new house in place of the old one, they were very clear about one thing: the building would be new, but its spirit would echo the experience and memories of its predecessor. An open-air courtyard was mandatory—a community space around which activities such as sitting, eating and cooking could be conducted without too many intervening walls. The house would always welcome the numerous relatives and friends who stayed in the vicinity and would drop in in an impromptu manner.
The clients presented this vision to their architects, Avinash Ankalge and Harshith Nayak of Bengaluru-based A Threshold. Given the clarity of requirements and the context of the site, it was natural for the design practitioners to envisage a built-form whose contemporary framework and materiality would defer to traditional wisdom. This way, rather than being an alien presence ‘placed’ in the neighbourhood, the new home would integrate seamlessly with it. “The existing tight context, traditional exposed basalt-and-brick local vernacular houses, narrow plot access, and the harsh regional climate presented significant limitations and design challenges,” declares Harshith. “These constraints provided crucial clues that shaped the architectural solutions, ultimately defining the character of the house.”
The facade, for instance, is designed to mitigate the brutality of the sun. In a powerfully emotive stroke, the architects used the black basalt salvaged from the old home in this one, installing a potent spatial memorial for the residents. The reclaimed stone was used for the walls on the ground floor, delineating the home’s boundaries and wrapping the level in a cool embrace. A perforated sheath of bricks with built-in planters was erected above the thick, stolid basalt band. With a gap of 800-mm between this brise soleil and the actual walls of the home, the earthen expanse acts as the outer skin of the upper levels, reducing the bite of temperatures that can touch a searing 47°C. It also doubles up as a visual barrier, resolving matters related to privacy while living in a dense urban neighbourhood.
The pockets of greenery woven into the terracotta jaali add a refreshing touch to the interiors, maintaining a cool microclimate within the home throughout the year. Additionally, the “breathable façade attracts birds, squirrels, butterflies, and other wildlife, adding visual interest and character from the outside,” points out Avinash. The interior material palette of the ground+two storey, 2,250-square-foot home is also intentionally minimal, and features salvaged and refurbished teak-finished windows from the previous home, mirror-finished Kota stone flooring and exposed concrete ceilings.
The programme integrates double and triple-height courts topped by skylights. This helps to draw natural light into a home hemmed in from all sides by neighbouring structures. On the ground floor, the living and dining areas and the kitchen face the open courtyard attached to the wall on the north, a seamless public zone bathed in the effulgence of the sun. This floor also accommodates one bedroom for the senior family member.
A sleek, teak-clad metal staircase connects the house to the first floor, which contains two bedrooms, one to the southeast and one to the southwest, separated by a bridge flanked by courtyards. A spiral metal staircase swirls up from this level to the next with its green terrace, a small family area and the kids’ bedroom. “The bedrooms feature operable floor-to-ceiling louvred teak wood windows and doors that open into the internal courtyards,” reveal the architects. “These draw cool breezes from the courtyards into the bedrooms, increasing cross-ventilation throughout the house and keeping the internal microclimate cool.” A fact they’ve personally experienced on a recent visit on a hot summer day!
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