Weekend Bungalow / Opolis architects

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Text description provided by the architects. Situated within the Western Ghats, Amby Valley has a very rain drenched monsoon and this location in particular has high rainfall with a characteristic swirling motion due to the valleys. 

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The brief demanded a rather large weekend get-away house for a joint family- consisting of three smaller self-contained villas for the parents and the two brothers (and their families) within the house with some shared facilities. The site had sweeping views towards the east and was steeply contoured and required good use of levels to negotiate the ground while maximising the view towards the east.

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The design looked at creating exterior open spaces between these three individual villas at the same time maximising their views out towards the east. The program was abstracted into two individual villas having two bedrooms each with the main shared facilities in between. There was a level added at the upper level that completed the younger brother’s house with a large Music room attached to it. The guest rooms were tucked below one villa with the services and parking under the other villa.

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The house uses the black basalt stone of the Western Ghats to create a visually stronger and solid base and exposed concrete walls to emphasize the main villa spaces. A light weight steel roof structure with wooden planks and Mangalore tiles completes the composition. A grey limestone floor ties in all the circulation spaces while the main living space has a white buff stone that creates its own pixelated carpet like look. 

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