Excerpt: Kalarigram House by Badoloka features a design that seamlessly blends traditional elements and local vernacular with modern living standards. In order to optimise privacy, the house is oriented inward, with a central courtyard serving as the focal point and a space for workshops, special events, and informal living. In addition, the courtyard controls the microclimate within the house and adds natural light.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] The Kalarigram House is located on the outskirts of Auroville, within a site that houses a Kalari school of martial arts and a treatment center. It was designed for the Kalari master, his family, and guests attending various treatments and workshops. The client’s requirements emphasized creating a versatile multifunctional space that integrates rich traditional elements and local vernacular with modern living standards.
Given the active environment surrounding the house, including the Kalari school and clinic, the primary design goal was to enhance privacy by inwardly orienting the building. This approach led to the establishment of a central courtyard, which serves as the focal point of the house. Surrounding open spaces adjacent to the courtyard can be adapted for informal living areas, private art and music performances, workshops, and other activities. The courtyard also plays a crucial role in providing natural light and regulating the microclimate within the house.
The design allocated formal, enclosed spaces only for the eight bedrooms, while areas like the living room, dining area, and kitchenette are arranged openly around the courtyard. This layout fosters a sense of openness, connectivity, and social interaction among residents and guests. Main cooking activities are centralized within a larger kitchen block outside the house, hence a smaller kitchenette provided here for lighter cooking tasks.
The bedrooms feature large bay windows screened with brick jallis on the exterior, ensuring privacy from the activities around the house, facilitating natural ventilation and cooling during the summers, and casting intricate patterns of light that enhance the aesthetic appeal of the spaces while shielding against the intense summer sun. These brick jallis give the house a distinctive character as its exterior skin. They add a traditional yet elegant touch, often blending cultural heritage with modern aesthetics.
An informal open terrace for evening parties accessed through the house and also independently from the outside by a spiral stair, leads us to the top floor of the house which includes an attic space with clay tile roofing. This attic space serves multiple functions, primarily acting as a versatile area for workshops and gatherings. Additionally, it serves as a barrier against rainwater leakage and excessive heat from the sun, thereby protecting the bedrooms below.
The architectural framework surrounding the courtyard was experimental, blending traditional stone pillars with a robust foundation of concrete and beams to support the slabs. The rest of the house utilizes locally sourced bricks for load-bearing purposes, distinguished by their surface pattern initially considered a manufacturing defect. This unique feature of the exposed brick surface was embraced to impart a distinctive character to the residence, complemented by exposed cement plaster, cast iron and wood finishes throughout, achieving the raw aesthetic and timeless quality envisioned from the inception of this project.
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