Ahmedabad, India
Ahmedabad-based architectural studio The Grid Architects complete a family residence which is a simple, yet functional home for a small entrepreneurial family with an appreciable creative streak.
The client runs a thriving business, but is also an enthusiastic poet, while his son is an avid wildlife photographer.
The home is built on a 12,000-sq-ft, southwest-facing plot.
The design is primarily determined to be a more “brutalist” structure typified by bare concrete, geometric shapes, a monochrome palette, and a monolithic appearance.
The beauty of this approach was its unification of two very different concepts: a brutalist expression seeded in an emotive inspiration.
The interior of the house is embellished by various Indian elements, incorporating “brutal” in social housing ideals and traditional Indian typologies resulting in, what many architects call, neo-brutalism.
The project named Beton Brut—raw concrete in French—may appear strong and assertive but it possesses a soft, emotive heart.
The primary concern was to ensure a structure that would be protected from the harsh sunlight and heat.
This became entwined with the desire to create an abode that reveled in a sense of space—a home that brought the family together but left enough space for the individual personalities to thrive through their creativeness.
The architects have created places of congregation and solitude in the spatial narrative.
The Grid Architects have aimed to pair enclosed volumes with open areas to amplify this sense of freedom and luxury.
On the interior, a simple entrance sheltering under a concrete canopy features a three-meter-tall door, scooped outward, and embedded with stone.
This leads to a long path with living spaces strung along the left and culminating visually at the backyard wall, adorned by patinated sculpture.
On the right, a seating arrangement in a vestibule-like space forms the waiting lounge.
Take a turn, and the whole inner sanctum unfolds within visual distance of the central landscaped court: the formal living room, the dining area, and the bedroom of the senior couple.
More bedrooms with ensuite facilities and walk-in dressers lie upstairs.
All living spaces are connected to the staggered terraces or gardens putting the occupants in constant touch with the outside.
Project: Beton Brut
Architects: The Grid Architects
Client: Private
Photographers: Photographix
