In Emmad, a serene village positioned within the border space of Thrissur district, lies a conventional home that stands out due to its distinctive mannequin and ease.
Whereas Ragesh T determined to construct his personal home on the outskirts of town, his solely want was that it ought to be sustainable and have a devoted area to encourage his curiosity in studying in addition to music.
“Our concept was easy,” says Ragesh, a instructor by occupation, “giving zero significance to luxurious and artificiality. Situated in a relaxed space, we wished to protect the atmosphere of our plot and usher in as a lot pure air and light-weight into the house as potential.”
On studying this, Ragesh’s associates directed him to Shanitilal, who runs an architectural firm referred to as Costford in Thriprayar, which focuses on developing eco-friendly buildings.
Extremely skilled within the discipline of sustainable structure, Shantilal was greater than happy to take up the venture. He got here up with a plan of motion to construct an alluring home that may stand out from the usual cement buildings we see in all places.
Selecting sustainable structure
Because the household wanted solely two bedrooms, the architect determined to construct a single-storeyed home, however with the amenities of a double-storeyed one.
“My plan was to construct the home at an above-normal top to assist decrease the temperature inside and entice loads of daylight. The household supported this concept,” says Shantilal.
The partitions of the home ‘Geetham’ have been constructed utilizing purple stone, giving it a conventional look. The outer partitions have been left unplastered following the uncovered type of development. Whereas, the interiors have been plastered utilizing a unusual eco-friendly mixture of mud, jaggery, lime and myrobalan (haritaki).
“In nearly all of the sustainable homes I’ve designed thus far, I’ve used this plastering combine to maintain the partitions sturdy similar to cement. Furthermore, by leaving out cement, the fee is lowered tremendously,” shares Shantilal.
The architect continues, “I used previous roof tiles above a waterproofed bamboo sheet to keep away from potential leakage points in future. All of the doorways, home windows and furnishings have been to be made utilizing recycled wooden, however sadly because of the introduction of the pandemic, we confronted some challenges and went forward with metal frames and wood planks as an alternative.”
He says that the doorways, home windows, staircase, eating desk and benches have been constructed to final for years with out upkeep.
Ragesh says, “Other than constructing the roof at double the peak, we used purple oxide for flooring as an alternative of paint to make sure a comfortable cool inside. There are no air conditioners in any room, and we not often swap on the followers too. We used tiles solely on kitchen partitions to keep away from the hazard of leakage.”
An area that nurtures inventive prospects
Geetham has a sitting area, front room, eating space, courtyard, kitchen, work space, two bedrooms with hooked up bogs on the bottom flooring, and a multi-utility area and open terrace on the primary flooring.
After opening the entrance door of the home, the visitors are welcomed to the internal courtyard that resembles Kerala’s conventional Nalukettu home.
“The open courtyard brings in mild all via the day, and we positioned a swing within the center which beautifies the spot. This area is the non-public favorite for many of our visitors, and it’s also a terrific spot to take good photos,” he provides.
Within the 1,200-square-foot home, the 350-square-foot space on the bottom flooring is designed for studying, having fun with music, and internet hosting small get-togethers.
“That is my favorite area at house. I spend most of my free time right here participating in inventive actions. The place has huge home windows permitting pure mild and air to return in abundantly,” says Ragesh.
To make sure that the house stays unaffected by rising warmth, the household has grown a variety of timber like coconut, mango, jackfruit, neem and so forth round the home.
Ragesh says, “We now have a pleasant inexperienced view of the plot from the balcony on the primary flooring. Although, we additionally use the area for laundry and drying garments.”
Architect Shantilal shares that the overall value of constructing this home was Rs 21 lakh. “It went barely past the finances due to the rise within the worth of development supplies through the pandemic-induced lockdown interval. However, we accomplished the development this yr and the household is happy with how their dream house has turned out.”
Edited by Pranita Bhat; Photograph credit: Shantilal