A house for Mr. Chirag Shah – ‘An intriguing escapade’
Studio Name: Sarthak architects and interior designers
Design Team: Solomon Canara, Steven Canara
Built up area: 10,100 sq. ft.
Year: 2011 and year of renovation – 2023
Location: Bhayli, Vadodara, Gujarat
Consultants: Bharat Mistry
Photography Credits: Steven Canara
This exquisite farm house built on 60,000 square feet of land is a confluence of simplistic design decisions with some extravagant tinges of splendour. The core idea behind designing it was to create a unique yet a humane living environment. This house caters to a joint family where all the members get their own private spaces along with healthy co-existence of common spaces. The built form has been juxtaposed in the central portion of the site emphasizing it in a huge site and it is surrounded by varying landscapes which correspond to their adjacent built spaces. The external white finish of the house is complemented by wooden cladding in the facade of the house.
The formal entry through the porch changes drastically as one progresses inside the house by intriguing vistas and staggered lateral movement. The house is spread over the ground floor and lower ground floor enhancing the horizontality of the built form. The ground floor comprises of a living room, kitchen and dining, puja, and five bedrooms connected through the sky lit central foyer. Intimacy and expansiveness are equally taken care of since all the spaces predominantly open outside with exclusive functions and views. This aspect gives the house its multifaceted character and an effluent spatial pull.
A gradual slope was created in the site to relate to the spatial hierarchy of the built form which. The solid massing breaks down and the house opens out into the pool amidst the semi covered verandahs not bound by walls. The spaces on the lower ground floor get physically and visually connected with the outside by sliding & folding partitions. The play of cantilevered mass and levels gives a different feel of the same space when viewed from different places inside the house. The enigmatic murals, paintings sculptures and the furniture add to the beauty of the interior and exterior spaces.
In 2023, some areas in the house underwent refurbishment as per the change in the function. The guest room, pooja room, son’s room, the extended dining along with the spa, gym an barbeque were added in the basement area. The design of all these spaces were meticulously curated to blend harmoniously with the existing functions.
