Houzz Tour: This Mysore Home is a Unique Exploration in Brickwork
The architecture experiments with materiality, design, and transitional and private spaces with seamless outdoor links
Aditi Sharma Maheshwari
16 August 2017
Blogger, dog mom
An expansive brick house with an eye-catching facade and interiors punctuated with lots of green spots – wouldn’t you love to inhabit such a relaxing haven? Sandeep J of Architecture Paradigm says, “The brief was very simple: a compact house with strong security and plenty of open spaces. To build the home, we wanted to use local materials that are easily available. Concrete and wood aside, the main element that we intended to explore throughout the house was brick. This was for a lot of reasons – we wanted a material that requires minimum maintenance and keeps the home cool inside. It also ages well; there’s something so poetic about old, time-honoured brick homes.”
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two children
Location: Mysore
Year built: 2016
Size: 325 square metres (3500 square feet); 3 bedrooms; 3 bathrooms
Architectural designer: Sandeep J, Director, Architecture Paradigm
That’s interesting: The architect has used an unconventional design for security. The home’s facade displays a screen made of brick and metal. The partition doors are a shutter within a shutter – one shutter of glass and the other made of wooden slats.
Photos by Anand Jaju
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two children
Location: Mysore
Year built: 2016
Size: 325 square metres (3500 square feet); 3 bedrooms; 3 bathrooms
Architectural designer: Sandeep J, Director, Architecture Paradigm
That’s interesting: The architect has used an unconventional design for security. The home’s facade displays a screen made of brick and metal. The partition doors are a shutter within a shutter – one shutter of glass and the other made of wooden slats.
Photos by Anand Jaju
The home has an L-shaped layout; the road-facing section has the main gate along with two uniquely designed brick screens that immediately stand out. “We mulled over the idea of security which is usually translated as grilles in many homes. However, we thought of taking another route – we decided to use a single material and express it in many ways and so brick was chosen as it is readily available, effective and strong,” Sandeep J says.
To create the screens on the facade, mild steel flats (10-12 millimetre in width) were used and laid between brick palettes to stiffen the structure. “When you look from a distance, the metal rods disappear and you just see the beautiful floating brick lines,” Sandeep J says.
See how exposed brick makes these 9 homes shine
To create the screens on the facade, mild steel flats (10-12 millimetre in width) were used and laid between brick palettes to stiffen the structure. “When you look from a distance, the metal rods disappear and you just see the beautiful floating brick lines,” Sandeep J says.
See how exposed brick makes these 9 homes shine
Brick is omnipresent in the entire home’s design, be it on the facade, the boundary walls, this pathway or the half-wall made in the form of a brick screen. A small garden is created here and beyond the screen is the entrance to the home.
Once past the brick screen, one enters the living room, seen at centre-left in the image. This space is linked internally with the dining-cum-kitchen space on the right. Both the rooms are, however, separately connected to the lush lawn outside by an elevated brick platform. “Most homes these days have a built-up area that eats into the entire space of the site, so you end up with less room for car parking and gardens. Since courtyards and verandahs are so important to our heritage, we wanted to integrate them into this home, too. The garden here was a conscious design idea and not a residual space that was created as an afterthought,” Sandeep J says.
The doors that open up to the garden from the living and kitchen-cum-dining rooms show a different take on security. “The partition doors are a shutter within a shutter – one shutter with glass and the other made of wooden slats, created for solidity and privacy,” Sandeep J says.
The doors that open up to the garden from the living and kitchen-cum-dining rooms show a different take on security. “The partition doors are a shutter within a shutter – one shutter with glass and the other made of wooden slats, created for solidity and privacy,” Sandeep J says.
The entire home has concrete flooring. In the living room, the statement sofas were built on site. The loose furniture pieces, like the stools and coffee tables, were purchased from Fabindia.
Apart from the living room and dining-cum-kitchen area, the ground floor also has a bedroom. The first floor has the master and children’s room. All the bedrooms have attached bathrooms.
Apart from the living room and dining-cum-kitchen area, the ground floor also has a bedroom. The first floor has the master and children’s room. All the bedrooms have attached bathrooms.
Between the living room and the dining area is a small puja space. “This was built a little later. The whole idea was to give it a distinct identity and importance. It is a glass-encased unit, complete with a marble shrine,” Sandeep J says. The dining-cum-kitchen area is visible on the far right. The staircase on its left leads to the first floor with the family bedrooms.
Wondering how to make an open plan work in Indian homes?
Wondering how to make an open plan work in Indian homes?
The dining table and chairs were were bought from Fabindia. Concrete lights hung above the table were sourced from a local retailer. “The whole home is replete with transitional spaces, be it the interconnected living room, kitchen or dining, all looking out to a common outdoor area,” Sandeep J says. Here, too, the entrance door has a glass screen with wooden grilles.
The bedroom downstairs has a low wooden bed that was made on site, concrete flooring and beige curtains. “We raised the compound wall to create a small courtyard here. The roof for this, too, has a brick screen for security and privacy,” Sandeep J. says,
The staircase leading to the first floor is made of wood and mild steel and the flight towards the terrace is detailed as a skylight. On the ground floor, this area is accentuated with lots of plants. “The steps are swivel mounted so they can be lifted up to clean the skylight glass,” Sandeep J says.
The first floor has a small lounge area – the master bedroom and the children’s room are on either side. Wooden flooring, brick walls and concrete ceiling ensure a cool, calm interior. “The entire project was a meditation on exploring effective and unconventional uses of traditional materials, especially for security and privacy. Our aim was also to create a warm and cosy space that could help the owners create beautiful family memories together,” Sandeep J concludes.
Read more:
Houzz Tour: An Ahmedabad House With an Inside-Outside Connection
Tell us:
What did you like the most about this home? Tell us in Comments below.
Read more:
Houzz Tour: An Ahmedabad House With an Inside-Outside Connection
Tell us:
What did you like the most about this home? Tell us in Comments below.
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Very well laid out project. Loved the concrete flooring in the ground floor. Is it a local floor? could not make out any joints in the flooring and the seamless look is amazing.
like the brickwork on ceiling and the colours used inthis .
Beautiful! Great use of materials, love the connections between the rooms and the way the boundaries between house, verandahs and garden are so open. I wish you every joy living there.