Ramki's Residence

The project started with the client’s interest in nature: how to incorporate green into the building footprint. A series of ‘push-pull’ iterations followed until the perfect balance between the living space and green was achieved, as illustrated. The idea of nature was extended to the materials used as natural materials, such as rammed earth and compressed soil bricks.

Figure and ground was a useful tool to evaluate relationships between the massing of a building and a void. In this case, it was employed to study the relation between the built area and green. This allowed us to get an interesting result wherein green was integrated into the building envelope. It also allowed us to reinforce the desired logic of organizing spaces into public and private zones.

The house takes up only a quarter of the site, and the remaining land is utilised to craft a landscape supporting the building. In the surrounding rain garden, water becomes one with land; swales culminate in a retention pond that helps recharge groundwater. Native plant species support the rain garden, creating a lush habitat for the animals and birds that frequent it.