Batmanabane’s House, Moolakulam, Pondicherry 2008/9

The brief / client expectation for this project:
‘understated elegance’, vastu compliance, eco-friendly principles, sustainable architecture
Well- lit & ventilated & transparency as some of the elements of the house.

Unique  points about this project:
Essentially the dominant element is a square double-storied volume, pure, sleek, geometric envelope lifted buoyantly above slender pilotis on the tight site. The open to sky garden on the first floor reclaims the area of the building for green space inside.  Since the house was only for two people,a couple, maximum transparency between many rooms of the house was tried to be achieved.
The architecture design features include:
-modular design-no ornamentation -pure colour on the façades -a very open interior plan-interior garden on the first level-3-car integral garage (the curve on ground floor based on turning radius of the cars)

Challenges
The plot was square shaped and the client area requirement was nearly covering the entire plot. So light and cross ventilation was to be achieved in a square shape layout which was a challenge. So that’s when we placed a large open garden on the first floor around which all the rooms on the two floors opened into with glass walls that provides transparency, ample light and cross ventilation, at the same time a sense of green and garden which is hard to have around in a city location.

Appropriateness, local availability, after sales service  reliability, and cost factor  were the reasons for choosing the various materials.

CLIENT
Project Name
Batmanabane House

Category
Private Residence

Contact Person
Mr & Mrs. Batmanabane

Address
Thiru Nagar, Moolakulam, Pondicherry

DESIGN BUDGET    

75 lacs

AREA

500 sq.m

Principal Architect
Pino Marchese & Sheril Castelino

DESIGN TEAM
Key Person 1
Karna Sengupta

Key Person 2
Abhay Panchasara

PRODUCTS / VENDORS

ACP / Glass / Concrete:      Saint Gobain glass – Care India Fabrication
Sanitaryware / Fittings:      Hindware, Parryware, Bally
Flooring:      Somani
Furniture:      Creations, Damru,  Veneta Cucina, local
Air Conditioning:      Hitachi
BMS:      VISONIC Israel
Lighting:      CFL & LED lights from varied companies
Paint:      Asian Paints
Elevator:      Bharat lifts Chennai

CONSULTANTS / CONTRACTORS

Structural:      Suresh Engg, Pondicherry
Electrical:      Local
Civil:      Desire Designs
Landscape:      Client
HVAC:      Hitachi
Plumbing:      Local
Façade:      C&M Architects
Engineering:      Suresh Engg. Pondicherry