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Architects: Red Brick Studio
- Area: 150 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Hemant Patil, Sohaib Ilyas
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Manufacturers: Saint-Gobain, TATA
Text description provided by the architects. Red Brick Studio was approached to build a weekend home for a couple (and their dog!) with a brief that suggested the weekend house to be simple yet sophisticated, non-indulgent, and something that prioritizes function over form. As a response to this came about the Oblique House. A house that attempts to be honest, bare, and minimal to the point of being almost frugal; created to serve its primary function - of creating an intimate space considering the complexity of the terrain and beautiful views of the Uksan Lake.
With the recent increase in second-home tourism, the studio wished to create a positive environmental impact by minimizing ground impact and maximizing site potential while lowering the energy value of the built mass using contextually appropriate technologies & materials. The site had an interesting topography, starting with a flat patch upfront which starts steadily sloping down eventually reaching the edge of the lake. Going against the conventional practice, the studio proposed to reserve the flat part for the orchard the client wished for, set the house on the sloping part of the site, and use the natural topography to tuck away the majority of the house from the view at the entrance.
The planning of the house is akin to a simple cruciform plan, where the central arm along the slope is embedded in the ground and the other is stilted and sits lightly on the ground. The central mass; built out of poured stone rubble walls; emerges from the ground taking one gently down the landscaped basalt steps to the red entrance door. It also has a slight tilt in plan, which not only opens up the views of the living room towards the lake but also aligns the bedroom towards the setting sun. The rest of the house is stilted on steel columns, allowing the sloping land underneath to remain undisturbed. Walls of exposed fly ash masonry envelop this block with openings that are strategically placed to capture the picturesque hillsides around the lake.
As opposed to the rather hard and bare exterior, the interiors of the house are a welcome contrast. The insides are rendered with natural lime plaster to keep the interiors cooler during the hot summers and the breathable capacity of the plaster makes sure moisture doesn't remain in the walls. A skylight at the center of the house bathes the stairwell with natural sunlight. Custom-designed metal french doors, manufactured by the studio themselves, open completely to connect the spaces to the outdoors. The white walls and the black floor provide a neutral backdrop for the pops of color that appear in the furniture and the artwork – all of which was done by the client herself!
The landscape has mindfully been kept very raw, choosing hardy native trees and wild grass as compared to more manicured options. The studio hopes that with time the vegetation takes over the bare built mass, architecture slowly recedes back and lets nature itself receive all the attention.
