Nenapu - where the traveler’s memories goes into the album and experience the traditional Architecture.
“Nenapu” villa in the home town of famous poet Rashtra Kavi Kuvempu, Thirthahalli is set amongst a 30-acre wooded property in the Western Ghats. The first visual of the site was that of towering Rubber trees forming the skyline to the North with the site sloping towards the North West.
The client ran a 2nd generation family hospitality business. The demand was for a 3-bedroom villa, a recreational pavilion and a swimming pool as an extension to the already existing leisure stay.
Boasting spectacular views of the plantation, “Nenapu” is a modern interpretation of a traditional architecture. Firstly, I’m a huge follower of Geoffrey Bawa and Palinda Kannangara’s works, where they keep the design rooted to the vernacular architecture and blend well with modern interpretations. Apart from that I took inspiration from the architecture of Kuvempu’s house which is designed with the concept of “Thotti Mane” (Courtyard House) architecture including colonnaded central courtyard and verandahs.
From the minute I saw the property and took down the client’s brief, I envisioned for a deep dive into the indoor-outdoor living experience with spaces to breathe, a colonnaded verandah to watch the rainfall and lots of natural light and ventilation. The rooms are designed with large openings that open onto the expansive shaded private balconies and landscaped courtyards that offer cool breezy gathering leisure spaces with inspiring views of the dense foliage of rubber trees and an immediate connection to nature.
In the design, the main challenge was to find a common logic between the landscape and the client’s requests while optimizing the use of the lot and eliminating the least possible number of trees. The west wing of the villa was skewed, this decision was taken at site at the time of marking in order to preserve a couple of existing rubber trees.
Another major challenge was the location of the site which is located in a remote area, nearly 70kms away from the nearest city, Shimogga in Karnataka. Transportation and labors were the biggest issue we faced.