You have expansive plans, and great ideas to implement, but the site available to pack them all is narrow and small. Perhaps some of those dream ideas need to be sacrificed. At least so it seems. Only to realise you can have them all and still experience an expanse of space, uncluttered, totally open and bright. Appears like a dream? Perhaps not. At least not if the design of this 23x45 site is perceived.
For, this narrow site has them all: three bedrooms, courtyards, family room, a charming puja space, while the double height spaces ensure the interiors communicate effectively. Designed by Architect Tushar Vasudevan of Ochre Architects, the residence displays an expanse of space in the narrow site, the interiors craftily designed to accommodate all the requirements, with abundant natural light and ventilation.
The double height living space houses the dining as well as the puja area, the staircase amidst this attracting plenty of natural light through the presence of skylight. While the upper level lodges two bedrooms along with the family area, the bedrooms are designed to overlook the living space and the courtyard, thus bringing in connectivity between the upper level and lower level.
“Giving double height ceiling in the living and dining areas lends volume to interiors, making the spaces appear open and expansive. The bedrooms are made to overlook the courtyard to bring in connectivity. It is important to have the inner spaces communicate with each other in a residence”, says Tushar.
The presence of pergolas in the sky-lit courtyard, while lending charm, also arrests heat ingress, diffusing the harsh sunlight streaming into the interiors. The double-height roof and skylight, affording copious natural light and ventilation, gives the illusion of an expanse of space even though the site specifications are narrow.
Interestingly, the kitchen too has not been spared of this vertical infiltration of natural light. It has a small skylight to let in plenty of natural light. Contending that in a kitchen the quantum of natural light and ventilation should be sufficient, Tushar further adds, “Introducing a skylight here not only floods in natural light, it also makes the space appear larger and open.”
Viewing the seemingly expansive interiors in this narrow site, it is obvious, it is not the area or dimensions of the site but the clever handling of design that can make possible any type of dream spaces to assume tangible form.
