Material Dialogues!

Deearth Architects’ craft and curate an earthy abode that takes you away from the commotions of the busy outside and lets you connect more with the earth around you…

Previously a vegetable garden, the site has a south-facing entry from a 3m wide road and is enveloped by unoccupied land to the west and residential buildings on its other two sides.

The house slowly reveals itself; its walls composed of exposed laterite stone, cement textures and tandoor stone paving, bespoke vernacular, and traditional values. Another bamboo wall along the courtyard with its pebbles and random rubble pavers is carefully crafted as an invitation to the rhythms of nature and offers ample privacy. The zen garden extends the house outwards to the open sky and creates an organic threshold space where one can connect with and breathe in nature.

The transition from the outside to the inside is smooth. The veranda becomes an open living space with a waterbody to the south and a garden to the east as the use of leather finished black granite stone for flooring and a ratan swing in a tropical courtyard backdrop creates an essential threshold space.

The double-height living room is anointed with a sense of expansiveness as natural light streams in through an open bookshelf from the first-floor passage. The room has courtyards with sliding doors on either side, bringing in the outdoors. The Kottil adds extra charm as a cosy nook to gather or to just lie down watching the golden dust mites floating in shafts of sunlight. Exposed polished plastered walls, exposed concrete ceiling, and kadappa stone flooring come together in understated elegance. The sloping roof extensions and the Athangudi tile flooring leading to the zen courtyard to one side of the room form another threshold space. Louvered wooden windows, exposed laterite, and cement textured walls, together create an effortless vibe, gently underlining the serene simplicity of the ensemble. Wooden shutters act as a barrier to the heat and let in cool breeze.

The bedrooms are resplendent with rich material discourse. Striking verdant green Athangudi tiles with floral pattern offset by the distressed wood and a ratan bed bring freshness to the ground floor bedroom. The mezzanine kids’ bedroom is furnished with an oak wood finish bunk bed with solid wooden steps. A colourful bay window (blue paint, pink cushion), blue wardrobe with a musical theme, wooden flooring, and AC duct detailed with wooden reapers establishes a connection to the first-floor passage. The RCC cantilevered staircase features a green oxide finish and wooden panelling on thread with saw-cut old wood and steel rods used for handrail complemented by an intricately carved balustrade.

Other bedrooms flaunt yellow and blue oxide flooring, and clay ceiling tiles accentuating a wooden ceiling vying for attention amidst organic textures. The washrooms have similar palettes with one of them enhanced with a steel grid ceiling, granite washbasin and an antique copper finish steel support.

Each element is handpicked through a joyous journey between the client and the architect – an abode where one feels belonged. Rather than creating a wow statement, the spaces slowly imbibe into one’s soul, mutating into various moods – a place for much-needed interlude and exhilaration, and a haven where one can enjoy the allures of tradition and be in repose.

Fact File:
Project Name: Vibes
Design Firm: Deearth Architects 
Lead Architects: Ar. Vivek PP   Ar. Nishan M
Team Members: Ar. Vivek PP, Ar. Nishan M, Ar. Sanak Surendran, Jamsheed AM, and Riza K.
Gross Built Area: 3800 sq. ft.
Location: Thalassery, Kerala
Photography Credits: Redz Photography and Sanak Surendran