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Architects: EKNC, SYSTEM Architects
- Area: 1035 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Maruf Raihan
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Lead Architects: Enamul Karim Nirjhar
Text description provided by the architects. In a serene environment, situated just on the outskirts of Dhaka city with proximity to the river Shitalakha, the design was intended for the residence of a family. With its transitional layers of indoor-outdoor spaces, the residence offers generous spreads of filtered daylight glazing through the interiors. It intended for people to look for the unknown and ask from the unknown. Hence, the residence was named CHAABI, meaning wanting something in Bengali.
The flow of the house's function expresses openness and nature. While the main entrance acts towards welcoming guests, other entrances are crafting the openness and blending with the surrounding nature. On the ground floor are bedrooms, a home theatre, a dining room, a swimming pool, a gym, a guest room, a kitchen and a staff room. The water body beside the living room is open to the sky, and the south opening gives the view of nature with the calmness of the south wind. The water body beside the house has a straight connection to the house. The narrow walkway on the edge of the water body takes to a large open space, giving the feeling of going from a small space to a large space.
A series of light-filled stairways provide a visual connection with the landscape and emulate walking through the green grass as one passes between spaces.
On the first floor, there's an intimate family area where rain can be relished and a door that opens to the outdoor area where one can sit and cherish the rain. Besides that, a guest room, kitchenette, and a long corridor lead to various spaces, such as the family living room, where there is a space called address-desk. It's an elevated wooden stage with three microphones to give speech. Then there are a few bedrooms and a study room. The master bedroom is especially celebrated with a stair connecting it to the open field.
The bedroom over a contoured land was placed thoughtfully as a courtesy to the only daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Mahbubul Alam.
The use of materials reflects the architecture of the residence. Portraying an iconic but sensitive use of concrete for walls and ceilings and Mahogany wood for doors-windows exhibits the materials' versatility to their fullest. The use of glasses with no grills allows to enter filtered glazing sunlight. Matte tiles were used in floors, giving a subtle finish.
The design of the residence incorporated a few emotions-provoking elements. One of these is memory traps. These were placed in the ground where ambient indirect light comes from. They kept memorabilia of their parents and grandparents there to remember and treasure them.
The design intended for people to look for peace and calmness and be in sync with the surroundings. This subtle incorporation provides the users with physical and psychological connections with nature. The discussion of the project came to a point where the whole thing seemed like a poem. That assured the client enough to say, "You write, and I will interpret it in my way."
