A Magnificent Bungalow With Breathtaking Natural Light and Views of the Garden

You saw the first part of this magnificent skewed house sitting on a busy street, designed by Studio Lagom. Enveloped by a sprawling landscaped garden, it is camouflaged to the outside world in a barrier of wooden facade and green creepers. Today, I take you inside this modern bungalow with equivalently envious interiors that blurs the line between the inside and the outside.

Given the generous footprint of the house, the house edges towards a darker color palette to bring in warmth. Use white or light colors for a house this large, and you would only make it impersonal. The modern villa sports black granite for flooring, and darker shades for ceiling and walls in certain rooms. The windows and interior wood work are made of Burma and Valsadi teak which give the house that warm and earthy feeling.

Location: Surat, Gujarat
Area of plot: 14,000 sq ft
Built-up area: 11,000 sq ft
Architecture & design firm: Studio Lagom
Principal architect: Hardik Shah

Living + Dining

The ground level comprises spaces connected to relaxation and unwinding. Above this is the living-dining, kitchen, a bedroom and the garden in the front, followed by more bedrooms, up another level.

The split-level living-dining area is extensive, with living part being sunken and the dining elevated. Opposite the living area is a sunken courtyard with more seating. These pockets of seating, with various configurations, allow people more freedom to use the space as per their choice.

Pooja Room

The line-up of hanging diyas from wooden brackets leading up to the pooja room is what drew me initially to this project. A pathway of stones sunken in a lotus pond is a heavenly feeling.

The double-height pooja room is close to the entrance heralded by a water-spout and set within a water body.

The houses established strong connections to nature with the help of suitable fenestration. For instance, the L-shaped glass inset behind the pooja tower invites the surrounding greenery in and connects the interior waterbody with the external lotus pond visually.

Stairway

An enormous Kalamkari-inspired artwork in subtle grey graces the staircase wall, and is one of the design highlights of this space.

Bedrooms

Sunlight streams through the nine-foot cantilevered glass in the master bedroom. Looking through the louvered doors and windows, one is treated to a carpet of blossoms and the dense shining foliage of the Frangipanis in the garden beneath.

For the architect, this house represents the firming up of several convictions: that each building is unique by way of its users, setting, function, and more; that you will deliver quality if you care enough; that there is no substitute for nature; and that architecture can leverage the innate beauty of every material, by creating the right balance between less and more.

Image courtesy: Photographix | Sebastian + Ira for Studio Lagom