Villa KD45 Residence by Studio Symbiosis

Architects: Studio Symbiosis
Area: 1100 m²
Year: 2022
Photographs: Niveditaa Gupta
Manufacturers: AGV Alufab, Asian Paints, Century Plywood, Ekka Furniture, FLOS, Greenlam, Jaquar, Kohler, Mitsubishi, NITCO TILES, P-Security, Schneider
Project Development: Kartik Misra
Project Coordination and Supervision: Nitish Talmale
Project Architect: Krishan Sharma
Work Coordination: Govinda Dey
Supplier Coordination and Construction Management: Govinda Dey
3D Views: Anjan Mondal, Arun Marigoudra
Architects: Studio Symbiosis
Structures: ACECON
Electrical and Hydraulic Installations: dbHMS
Luminotechnical Project: The Luminars
Civil Construction: Saakar Projects
Landscaping: Studio Symbiosis Architects
City: Ghaziabad
Country: India

Project Demands

The client wanted to create a home with maximum green space and park views for an extended family. The client’s brother with his wife and grandparents will stay on the ground floor. The client, his wife and their son, on the first floor. 

Home theater, bar and gym are located in the basement, connected with a beautiful outdoor staircase and patio to bring in light. The site is surrounded by houses on its three sides, offering views of the neighborhood park on the shorter side. To the side, there are three prominent trees on the site: one of them at the entrance and two at the back of the lot. The client’s wish was that we try to keep these trees as a priority.

Being an extended family, the client wanted a two-way interaction between the people in the house. First, privacy areas were created for the parents, his brother’s family and his family. Second, spaces where all members of the house could be together.

Architectural Solution – Urban Life Amidst Nature

In an urban environment, there is a growing disconnect between the user and nature. With this project, we seek to create green urban life, to rekindle the residents’ relationship with nature in their immediate surroundings. This residence emerges from the landscape, with the central theme of creating maximum green coverage on the site and utilizing the park views facing the site. 

The strange shape of the site, along with the views of the neighborhood park, were incorporated into the architectural design. Thematically, the project seeks to integrate the green of the neighborhood park with the site, with lines that emerge from the park facing the south side and open to the north end of the site. These lines formed a basis that was used to define bodies of water, built-up area and green areas.

The built form is strategically placed at one end of the plot, resulting in a generous garden on the west side of the plot that opens into the double-height living and dining room, extending to an outdoor living room. The built form emerges from the landscape and combines the ground floor with the roof of the building, creating an external connecting column for the village. 

This winding walkway has outdoor space on the first floor with shaded outdoor seating and further connects to the terrace. This outdoor terrace created on the first floor functions as a balcony and at the same time the direct entrance to the first floor apartment. The roof garden enjoys the views of the neighborhood park with a feeling of being in harmony with nature.

The existing trees on the site were retained in the project and the shading of these trees was used to create outdoor spaces, which could be used in Delhi’s extreme weather conditions. The intention of the project was to create a dichotomy in the facade between a light base and a heavy volume floating above it.

 The ground floor has a glass facade to connect with the green outdoor spaces, and the first floor has perforated windows carved in concrete to minimize heat gain as this facade is directly exposed to the sun.

A double-height open living, dining and kitchen space combines the two floors of the family into a living space and thus strengthens the family’s connectivity. Sustainable design strategies were adopted to create indoor and outdoor environments. The ground floor has a deep cantilever on the southwest facade and east on the ground floor to cut out the strong summer sun. 

Water bodies are provided on the ground floor and terrace to promote evaporative cooling. The roof of the building is a landscaped terrace with earth and grass, which helps to further reduce the direct heat gain of the house.

Sustainability

Given Delhi’s hot weather conditions, this project was designed for human comfort both indoors and outdoors. A shallow body of water on the ground floor was placed taking into account the wind direction, aiding in evaporative cooling. 

The southwest-facing main facade on the site is recessed to block direct sunlight during the day, maintaining a seamless visual connection to the exterior. In the early evening, a few rays of sunlight enliven the interior. The top floor of the building is made of concrete with recessed windows to cut out the southern sun.

The three existing trees on the site were maintained, creating areas of shade in the landscape and also helping to reduce the sun exposure of the house. The green roof on the terrace, as well as the winding steps, ensure a reduction in direct heat gain. Wind direction was taken into account for cross ventilation in the house.