Villa Vernacular | Digital Retreat
Transformation of an Indian country house | Replanning a Villa in the countryside
The home office has become more of a necessity to everyone now more than ever due to the current pandemic situation. Thanks to the advanced digitization and networking through the Internet modern life is being offered new possibilities. We have the opportunity to live and work in less crowded places with rural and scenic qualities far away from our office.
"Villa Vernacular" is a design task to develop a leisure property the idea of which is to wrap everyday urban life in a new rural and nature-loving guise. The design assignment is to develop a villa for a family of four who have switched completely to home office and would like to live in the country for six months.
Customer profile
Division of space
The property, surrounded by fields, is bordered by a palm grove with a river running behind it in the northeast.
The property is developed via the main road to the west and is divided into 3 zones:
semi-public, residential, private garden area
The cubature standing across the street blocks the view into the private area.
To protect against the western sun, the living room and the parents' bedroom are located in the east of the house.
Cubature
The two-storey cubic basic shape with a storey height of 3.42 m and an eaves height of 7.21 m is oriented with the long side facing east / west in order to make the most effective use of the sunlight.
In order to counteract the strong solar radiation from the Indian sun, the ground floor is indented by 2.20m in order to achieve greater self-shading.
Through the formulation of the ground floor, individual parts of the facade move outwards in order to architecturally emphasize important elements such as entrance portal, garage driveway and functional areas.
Large loggias are cut to ensure shading on the upper floor as well. The facade is now shaped by a circumferential facade band that focuses on the entrance.
The house gets a base of 0.19m (terrace structure) to stand out from the terrain.
The facade is structured by stone wool facade panels in a grid of 0.55m.
To integrate the design into the landscape, terraces and beds are created.
To separate the property from the neighboring farm, a wall will be built around the entrance.
Materials
Floor plans
The ground floor can be divided into 3 areas: living and dining area, work and garage.
At the center of the topology is the centrally located main corridor. As a connecting element between the north and south wings, in combination with the two-storey library, which serves as a bridge between living, working and sleeping, it enables free circulation through the entire ground floor.
The hallway offers space for showcases, cupboards and benches and creates an open and spacious feeling.
The upper floor can be divided into 4 areas: parents, fitness, guest and children.
The light-flooded hallway is at the center of the topology. As a connecting element between the individual areas, it creates visual relationships on the floor and on the ground floor. In contrast to the linear room structures for children and guests, the parents' area circulates with the light corridor and fitness area, and creates an exclusive connection to the library via the loggia.
Open space plan
Facade cut
Library
Ground Floor
First Floor
The library is the central connecting element between the parents' bedroom above and the spacious study and living room below.
The library as a passage room is the heart of the circulation through the floors and can be used as a reading room as well as an additional work space.
The design concept is based on a black and white contrast between the built-in cupboards made of black ebony and the smoothly plastered white suspended ceilings.
The room is supplied with light all day through a large skylight and a two-story window in the east wall.
In addition to the natural light, there is an artificial light installation to emphasize the ceiling
Light Corridor and Living Room
The light corridor is in the middle of the upper floor and extends almost the entire length of the villa.
Thanks to a large number of skylights that flood the hallway with light all day, it creates an open, spacious feeling.
Through the gallery to the living room, it supplies the lower areas with indirect western light and creates a view of the garden.
With planned built-in cupboards, benches and mirrors, the hallway can be used in a variety of ways and always ensures a wealth of variety.
The living room convinces with a large window front to the east, its openness within the room structure, the extensive views of the garden, nature and surroundings, as well as an abundance of all-day natural light.
The living room can be accessed through the library - from the bedroom and the study - as well as through the main hallway or the terrace. In addition, it creates a flowing transition to the kitchen and dining area, as well as a connection to the upper floor.
