A tall row of houses runs along a narrow residential street in Colombo Sub Urb Nugegoda neighbourhood. This house’s design approach reflects an ambition to embrace change and growth – of both the family and professional life of its incumbents.
The house is fitted out frugally and minimally, most noticeably in the pantry where the services and pipework are exposed, allowing for simple, efficient and cheap maintenance. The architects have embraced this back-of-house aesthetic, one which is alien to most homes. It is not a ‘homely’ space, but that is precisely the point: this house is not just a home.
Architect’s desire to welcome incompleteness is admirable – the house can easily be adapted– but the cement bricks and pre cast concrete structure are not malleable building fabrics. This building is gray & clay thanks to the natural color of these bricks, which reflect the rawness of the building material and blend the house with its sub urban surroundings. This exposure makes it easier to use, maintain and keep neat the items inside. This is the advantage of using only a few materials like cement bricks, clay bricks, steel, glass and concrete.
‘The charm of the handmade is its uncertainty’. Bricks with uneven texture and color, when built as a wall for an entire house, can bring the structure to life. Errors, imperfections, rawness are no longer limited to artistic elements but have taken on a new role in architecture as practical elements.
The front large window facing the street allows sunlight and wind to enter the rooms to minimize electricity consumption. Most importantly, the house brings back memories of the middle-class home the architect lived in as a child, and reminds him that too much comfort can reduce motivation and the ability to maintain the quality of his work.
Team:
Consultants: Chinthaka Wickramage Associates
Project Architect: Chinthaka Wickramage
Engineer: CLEF Consultants
Photography: Waruna Gomis
