Thendral by House of Design Stories

Thendral, a story of a niche individual residence is located in Chennai, TamilNadu. The house is well ventilated with continuous flow of gentle breeze throughout the year as the name suggests. This residence takes a very minimal direction both in terms of spatial planning and materiality creating a subtle romance between the two. This four bedroom, 2450 sq.ft home for a family of four sits on a 2400 sq.ft piece of land. The client’s requirement for a simple, well-lit and well-ventilated layout, to complement their simple lifestyle and their love for rootedness is a start for this design. 

Planning parameters involved careful understanding of the context to resolve site constraints. The site being located in a congested locality had concerns on privacy and ventilation. 

Metal screens are one of the main aspect and feature of the residence that spans the entire stretch of the front façade wrapping the balcony acting as a security feature. Since the bedrooms have been planned with large openings, they also create a visual barrier from the road. This was planned to help solve Mr. Veeramani’s concern on security as a young father as both of his kids’ bedrooms were planned on the first floor connected to the balcony. The pattern on the screen is iterated in a way to screen the private levels denser to cut off direct heat and the rest are left more porous with a defined transition. The other facias are kept white, which plays a major role in giving the metal screen a visual lift up. During the day the metal screens cast beautiful shadows in the balcony and inside the bedrooms as well.

The house adapts a simple spatial layout with free flow of spaces and is well planned with two outdoor courts. The front court, a landscaped parcel combines as an entrance giving it a pleasant inviting look to the house. It is a semi private space overlooking the road. The second court is intimately planned to flow from the dining room and is also guarded with metal framework for more security. All the spaces have been planned in a way such that they open into either one of the courts.

The material pallete has been kept simple to reflect the lifestyle of our client Mr. Veeramani and his family. The pallete includes white with grey accents, metal works, Solid wood and aathangudi tiles. Metal framework and meshwork are planned as a translucent partition to bind spaces. 

To give the house a touch of tradition Ghana teakwood, a low budget solution for solid teak is used for the shutters and furniture pieces. The built in furniture pieces are tastefully crafted in solid wood and also in combination with metal in certain areas. The windows and doors are made of solid wood which is carefully designed thus maintaining the minimalism as well as retaining the essence of tradition while ensuring security and durability. Aathangudi tiles for the flooring were homemade and the colours were derived mathematically and theoretically to achieve the pastel tones we envisioned. The moulds and colour pigments were custom made with respect to our design and to compliment the other elements of the house in a holistic approach. The mould is taken as a replica of the metal screen. The rest of the flooring were done with Kota stone to compliment the aathangudi.