The site for the house of a migrant businessman, his wife and three daughters is set amidst the dense suburban fabric of Chennai. The tight and narrow site is closed from all four sides, except for an open corner on the south west that connects it to the access road. Being bound by houses on three sides, and a high apartment complex on its longer side, leaves little scope for light and ventilation, and deprives it of much of its privacy.

Adding to the challenges of the surrounding are the strict limits imposed by Vaastu that had to be incorporated into the design. These set principles of traditional Indian building design, often arise from myths and defy the logic of rational, contextual space planning. It assigns fixed locations of various spaces and elements to the cardinal points – including the entrance, bedrooms and kitchen, down to the direction of sleeping and water closets.

Taking advantage of the development authorities’ byelaw that allows wall to wall construction, the house extends till the edges of the site on three sides – to maximize usable floor areas, and utilize otherwise dead marginal spaces. A concrete plane envelopes the periphery, to form a monolithic shell that shields its contents from the world outside. It is only upon entering, that the plane unfolds to reveal its hollowed center. 

Borrowing from the idea of the traditional Indian courtyard, large voids are carved out from within - bringing in ample light, air and green. The largest of these courts is positioned at the heart of the house and seamlessly extends indoors at the ground level – an open flexible floor plate of the living areas of the house. It both, segregates and connects, the formal living areas from the private ones that flank it - to form the hub of family life, where activities can converge. 

Private areas are lifted to the upper levels of the house and open into a smaller secondary courtyard. In an attempt to break the length of the house to a more intimate one, the floors of the blocks formed on either side of the court are accessed from the landings of the staircase, forming split levels that overlook each other. 

The staircase, walls and slabs are viewed in a capacity other than their basic structural solutions. Instead of remaining staid functional members, they are treated as a continuous concrete plane in three dimensions that enclose spaces and connect the house in a seamless continuum of volumes. They cut, bend and fold to create a perceptible notion of movement within the house – a composition of a seemingly light structure, held in delicate precarious balance and play.