Open-Shut house by The Design Yard

The Open-Shut house sits in a cluster of residential fabric with only the east and west faces free. Located in a remotely dense residential setting, the building façade faces the internal road with frequent vehicular movement. The designers decided to keep the north side for small openings rather than large ones as to not hinder the privacy of the inhabitants. Spanning four floors, the house inhabits not only four generations but also their individual needs catered to in a specific way.

The orientation of the plot leads the house to face west, making it prone to access sunlight for most parts of the day, along with a tendency that proper ventilation is regulated too. The integration of screens on the main façade ensures that there is a filtration of harsh sunlight from the west. This also contributes to constant ventilation and a partial blockage from other tenants in the gated community, providing the family members a sense of privacy. The mechanism of the screens' opening and closing also gives the occupants freedom of limiting or entirely opening up to the neighborhood for social connectivity. The screen wall enriches the simple and effective outlook that makes the house stand out. It is an important threshold that binds the house to its context and is functional toward the internal environment of the house. This lets in the southwest breeze and also lessens the need for artificial lighting.

The combination of brick, wood, and concrete and splashes of bright furnishings produces the best of interest for occupants of a homely and earthy feel and the designer’s deliverance of subtle aesthetics. The floors showcase the hierarchy of public and private from bottom to top. The ground floor consists of parking and storage. The first floor houses an open plan of living, dining, and kitchen areas, having transparency and smooth circulation between the spaces. The second floor comprises of bedrooms and a passageway connecting the same.