Excerpt: The Terracotta Screen House by Prashant Parmar Architect – Shayona Consultant is a beautiful blend of timeless elegance and contemporary minimalism, featuring meticulous space planning with open, well-lit, and well-ventilated spaces. This exceptional residence showcases a design characterized by modern serenity, with its distinctive staggered planes beautifully combined with terracotta screens and interiors featuring a timeless minimalist aesthetic.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] This 2650 sq.ft. South facing plot is located in the densely populated area of Maninagar, Ahmedabad. The client’s requirement was for a 4 BHK Bungalow, complemented by garden space that promotes a harmonious connection with nature. They also needed a servant room, a big size store room and 2 car parks.
It was going to be an uphill climb to fulfil all the requirements in this 2650 sq.ft plot size by effective space management. The front of the plot is attached to the society road on the south side, the other 2 sides are surrounded by adjacent bungalows with less margins and there is one common wall on the East side. After leaving required setbacks, the floor plate was merely 1300 sq.ft. on ground floor & total built up area of 5700 sq.ft.
The architects wanted every activity to have visual connection between all the floors, and provide connection to the gardens as well. At the same time, they didn’t want any boxy or overpowering structure on this South-West corner. So, they created staggered floating planes resulting into terrace gardens at every level by giving a natural stepped form. To provide a unique identity and to screen some of the front activities the architects have created this terracotta brick jali wall on the south side.
The floor plate has been divided into 3 zones from the south to north direction in all 3 floors. The activities have been planned in front and the rear zone and kept the central zone as open plan to minimize the circulation & easy communication.
The entry foyer has been beautifully designed with an elegant touch, and it seamlessly connects to the garden. It features spacious main door openings adorned with decorative grill doors. Here, one can feel hugeness while entering into the home. The safety door and the main door are adorned with Relwood, Corian and round metal CNC Grill to match the terracotta brick screening. The vestibule is a perfect example of interconnectivity of spaces. It is designed very practically to connect visually with the entry from kitchen and drawing area through decorative glass partition. The vestibule is highlighted with MCM cladding in combination of rose gold patti along with a decorative console.
On the ground floor, the drawing room is thoughtfully planned in the South East corner with full height glass windows, which feels wider. The covered gazebo with garden is an extension of this drawing room, which connects the user with nature. For safety the architects have provided a unique sliding grill which casts interesting shadows on the interior of the house, a combination of veneer, Relwood with Italian marble flooring which creates a soothing environment.
A feature wall with grey burnt brick cladding which is a backdrop of dark grey genuine leather sofa and wooden center table makes this space modest. Relwood with Cement spray and magnetic track light in the ceiling enhances the interiors. Motorized curtains maintain the privacy of the space & give a beautiful play of light throughout the day time. From the drawing room one can see a seamless flow and visual connectivity through dining and kitchen, without any wall barriers. This thought made the house more spacious from inside. The pooja space has been designed as double heighted, fetching the west light.
The dining area is a semi-private space connecting the drawing room and kitchen. Dining table with Onyx marble in contrast with brown leather finish chairs with Relwood ceiling and hanging lights enhances the space. Dining and kitchen area are separated from the drawing room by sliding folding decorative glass doors. Height dining becomes the core of the house having a great source of light penetrating in throughout the day from this double height window and allows easy communication with all three floors.
Dining area is connected with a beautiful water feature along with a semi covered sit out. The dining area is well connected with the kitchen and the privacy of the kitchen is well maintained and still it is well connected to the dining space. Easy to maintain a modular kitchen with subtle tones is an example of modern simplicity. It features grey matte Acrolam laminate with black profile handles and Corian platform top.
The parents room situated on the ground floor has a tufted fabric bed and is highlighted with backdrop of grey MCM cladding with teakwood patti and matte beige PU finish wardrobes providing fresh simplicity to parents bedroom. An attached private garden is provided to the parents’ bedroom to spend quality time.
For the vertical transition, a lift with staircase has been provided. On the first floor a cantilevered passage gives a vibe of openness and hugeness, overlooking the dining below. This passage is connected to the master bedroom in the front and son’s bedroom in the rear. The large master bedroom on the first floor has an attached garden balcony allowing the user to get closer to nature. A soft mixture of stone veneer and wooden fluted panel along with veneer highlights this bedroom.
The designer side tables are made of PU finish and black coloured MS handles. One can also have a visual connectivity with the puja area on the ground floor. A semi-covered elevated garden balcony with a skylight on top makes the space more interesting. A good size of dress and toilets is added to add luxury to the space. In the ceiling, the architects provided a combination of wallpaper and C type wooden track with a mirror in it to give balance to the materiality of the space.
The son’s bedroom at the rear has become a point of attraction for its hugeness in this house. Son’s bedroom is a rich blend of subtle material palette of light Grey PVC fluted panels with brown coloured curved headboard. The ceiling is made with a combination of MCM cladding, teak wood strips complemented with PVC fluted panels. A large size of dress and toilet is added to give more comfort to the user. Wardrobe and bathroom doors have been camouflaged with design to get squarish room space and clean corners.
On the second floor there is a large semi-covered terrace garden in the front zone. Terracotta cladding along with WPC wooden planks in combination with artificial lawn make the space more attractive. MS pergolas in the ceiling with circular terracotta brick jail creates a beautiful play of light and shadow as per the sun movement from south to west.
The suit room is significantly large with a length of 25’-0” which is settled in the rear zone. The suit room is a subtle combination of PVC fluted panel, matte acrolam, and veneer. The designers have also placed a niche with back painted glass proportionally in the backdrop of bed. On the other end of the suite room an L shaped beige color leather sofa is placed along with the decorative TV unit which compliments the veneer ceiling.
The right proportion of grey cement texture with stone crete texture in white in combination with WPC wooden planks and terracotta tiles screening highlights the aesthetics of the architecture. Considerate use of veneers, stone veneers, fluted panels, modified clay material with Italian marble flooring enhances the subtle tones of interiors.
Beautiful blend of timeless elegance and contemporary minimalism which reflects that lavish homes don’t depend on large plots but clever space planning can transform into open, well lit, and well-ventilated space. This is what can be summed up as “Terracotta Screen House”. This exceptional residence showcases a design characterized by modern serenity, with its distinctive staggered planes beautifully combined with terracotta screens and interiors featuring a timeless minimalist aesthetic.
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