Volume 14. Issue 03. March 2020 Rs. 25/-
THE
INSIDE TRACK CONNECTING THE DESIGN COMMUNITY Now view our web edition at www.theinsidetrack.in
Cover Story
V
ery close to the Egmore station in a densely populated area of Chennai, there is a small plot of about 400 square yards which is the location of an exceptional design response by the team of Matharoo Associates. The challenge with this site was that there was only a corner open, with all four sides in very close proximity to neighbouring developments and high rises. There was virtually no view to be had, or for that matter privacy, with the neighbours located as close as 10 feet in some cases. Responding to this challenging site condition, architects Gurjit Matharoo and Trisha Patel decided
Gurjit Matharoo, Principal Architect, Matharoo Associates
Cut, Fold, Bend, Play A home in Chennai designed by Matharoo
Associates responds to very difficult site conditions with a unique program to create a convivial home for the occupants.
The landscape along with the architecture, structure and interior are all considered and planned synchronously, it is essentially conceived as a single entity
The challenge with this home was that there was only a corner open, with all four sides in very close proximity to neighbouring developments and high rises
to shut the outside completely and opened the house towards the inside. Although the building looks very solid and closed from the outside, all rooms are cross ventilated. There is a lot of natural light that comes from large courtyards that have been punctured into the home. What has been created is a cocoon that cuts off this chaos of the city and looks within instead. The architects have devised a clever program where they have taken the built spaces until the compound wall and all the residual margin spaces have been consolidated and created into three large courtyards. They also created a number of skylights that are positioned to continued on page 2
