Excerpt: The Levelscape, designed by Nestcraft Architecture, is a unique residence that seamlessly blends landscape and built structure on a challenging sloped site. The design of the house centers around four yards, fostering a connection to nature and the outdoors. Walls blur the indoor-outdoor boundaries, while patios break the sloped roof and visually connect common areas within the home.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] Client: A humble family of two brothers along with their family from an orthodox background had directed a single statement to design this house, it is to have a home with 4 bedrooms in which they need good privacy from all the common areas of the home and they also desired the bedrooms need to have only the basic sizes and dreamed of the common areas of the home to be expansive, open and interactive in its nature as the brothers 3 children each and they need spaces within the home which encourages family bonding.
Design Process: Nestled within the stepped topography “Levelscape” stands as a harmonious fusion of landscape & built structure in a challenging sloped site. The residence greets the user with an aura of tranquility, as if inviting the user to leave the chaos of the outside world behind. The topography of the site was a challenge encountered in the design process.
The client also wanted the existing vegetation and terrain to be retained as much as possible. This is tackled by following the basic rule of building across the contours with the help of retaining walls facilitating minimum soil cut and fill. The porch was taken in the lowest level as a garage and its roof turns out to be a patio which is open from the living and dining space, the core of the house which encourages a lot of interactions and gatherings. This space has turned up to be the most loved space by the family as it helps the family to bond.
Planning: The planning of the home revolves around four yards: the parking yard, the entry yard, the patio over the roof of the porch, and the patio connected to the dining in the back which is facing east. This patio brings in a lot of morning light which contributes to the positivity in the kitchen, dining space.
These yards create a sense of connection to nature and the outdoors. Here, walls dissolve into the landscape, blurring the boundaries between indoor and outdoor. Patios are carefully integrated into the plan breaking the sloped roof and are visually connected to all the common areas within the home. The user loved a long veranda which is incorporated along with the main entry for creating an axis from the main door till the back patio. This adds to the spaciousness creating an open and flexible layout to accommodate more people during family gatherings.
Expansive windows let in plenty of sunlight, cutting down on the need for artificial lights and promoting good ventilation during the daytime, which helps reduce reliance on air conditioners or fans. The plinth level is elevated, and the car porch is positioned at a lower level, minimizing the need for excavation or soil filling, honouring the original slope of the land. The play of light and shadows displayed when natural light strikes the yards that are placed in different orientations adds to the experiential quality of the space which suggests biophilia.
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