RSA Residence

Set on a quiet corner, the site is perfectly located in city center yet away from the madness. The client wanted the house to have maximum views towards the well maintained community park across the street. Natural light and ventilation to be the hallmark of the design.

The material palette for the exteriors is a harmonious blend of unsophisticated materials & technology that included materials like natural wood, local limestone, granite and metal. Different finishes of granite put together articulate the backlit textured boundary wall.

The 30 feet tall tree silhouette for the façade went through numerous brainstorming sessions. Decisions about the material, lighting, cutting and the final form. The ratio of the punch size and distance between the two was critical to get the perfect viewing distance from the street. Several permutations were punched out as prototypes before finalizing. The final result is the magnificent dappled lighting through the screen highlighting the silhouette of the mimicked silk cotton tree at the entrance of the house.

During the design stage, each member of the house described their ideal space, in accordance to which their personal spaces were sculpted. At the end, both the owners and the designers were satisfied with tailor-made spaces for each of them. All the bedrooms have windows on two adjacent walls for the natural flow of breeze. The master suite is designed around a pastel-shade Victorian theme. The hall-porter chair besides the window overlooking central courtyard has become client’s favourite nook to unwind with a book and cup of tea. The daughter's wine palette bedroom has a study area behind the bed's headboard which makes for a secluded zone to help her focus.

Twin columns at the center of the living room allows for a column-free corner views to the lawn on either side, dissolving the boundaries between indoors & outdoors. As you move through the house you get a glimpse of landscape from every corner. A central staircase organizing the main spatial flow through the two storeys is bound by a glass bridge. Structuring the views towards the courtyard, while you ascend the stairs, through the triple height array of windows. The windows, overlooking the central double height family lounge, lets in the foliage filtered sunlight throughout the day reducing the dependency on artificial lights. The two terraces placed in front & rear of the house on the first floor removes the hot air from the level below and maintains a good flow of natural air circulation.