‘Idanazhi’ in regional language means corridor which is the fundamental concept of the residence. An artery has been carefully inserted on site encompassing its context and design program. The house stands within a linear plot facing west amidst lush green fields and mountains of Palakkad district in Kerala. The area has houses that follow traditional architectural style of Kerala with generous courtyards, open spaces and pitched roofs.
The artery defines the shape of the building, segregating the two parts between the right and the left parts that contain private and public spaces respectively. The artery culminates in a pooja area that elevates the serenity and warmth of interior spaces. The spatial division is further enhanced by providing transitional spaces between the building and the surrounding nature through a vegetational palette of the region. A walkable residence, that when walking through it, the change of textures and scales creates a sensitive dialogue with the user.
The form is a product of slender volumes distributed on a plan intended to create voids and courtyards that rise above masonry walls in the form of a slope. The program consists of 4 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, terrace, living room, and courtyards aligned to the corridor. Traditional sloping roofs with clay tiles adorn the elevation. Primary material used is brick along with wood and concrete finish for walls. Brick jallis have been provided within courtyard spaces to enhance spatial ambiguity between interior and exterior.
Upon entering the artery through the primary entrance of the house, one passes through the foyer space to the living area towards north followed by the staircase within a skylit dry courtyard and ends in kitchen that follows an open spatial plan. To the south of the foyer, one finds a guest bedroom followed by another skylit courtyard with a water feature adding to the micro-climate of the interiors and ends in a master bedroom with both bedrooms overlooking the courtyard within them. The first floor consists of two bedrooms stacked above the bedroom in ground floor and a TV lounge to the north side with a bay window with seating.
On exteriors, brick prevails for the entire envelope, even being used as a screening to enhance privacy. Concrete finish is another element that appears both on the outside and inside with the intention of creating a home that will last over time without the need for great maintenance and respecting the environment and its location. The interior and exterior colour palette follows earthy tones owing to the use of natural materials available within proximity to the site. The uninterrupted perspective from entry door to the pooja area with brick jhalli behind it connects the interior with nature.
The building is a seamless representation of traditional architecture style of Kerala, a landscape that responds to the native, maintaining the character of the context and linearity of the site with the use of materials, colours, and textures that mimic the nature of its surroundings.
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