The Hidden House
Praveen Mohandas
Product Spec Sheet

ElementBrandProduct Name
Sanitary WareGROHE
Sanitary WareRoca
Switches/ Electrical FittingsPhilips Lighting Signify
Sanitary WareTOTO
Furniture and ArtefactsIKEA
PaintsAsian Granito India Ltd

Product Spec Sheet
Sanitary Ware
by GROHE
Sanitary Ware
by Roca
Switches/ Electrical Fittings
Sanitary Ware
by TOTO
Furniture and Artefacts
by IKEA

The Hidden House

LIJO.RENY.architects as Architects

The clients never wanted a ‘Hidden House’. On the contrary, they had dreamt of an impressive house, right in the center of their plot, visible from the road. However, the deafening noise, smoke and dust hurled at the site by the coastal state highway abutting the site shattered this dream of theirs. As this highway was already commissioned for further widening, the situation was never going to get better in the future.

photo_credit Praveen Mohandas
Praveen Mohandas

This called for careful zoning and detailing, on the 18.5 cent irregularly shaped site, to overcome the challenges. The strategy was to push the building as far as possible away from the highway, on the east, and provide a thriving landscape between them as a buffer. However, the car porch was placed right next to the compound wall to avoid the long-paved driveway that may otherwise be used for the much-needed landscape. Moreover, this car porch would be the only visible entity of the house, announcing its presence, in the future once the landscape takes over and shields the rest of the house. The pedestrian gate opens into a linear path that leads one directly to the patio and living block. The living block hides behind the neighboring house on an extension of the site toward the North West. As one moves through the pedestrian pathway into the small landscape opening between the patio and formal living, the significant drop in noise from the highway becomes obvious.

photo_credit Praveen Mohandas
Praveen Mohandas

The formal living acts like a pavilion with plain glass sliding doors opening into landscaped open to sky courtyards on either side. The living block contains a dining, powder room, family space, kitchen, work area, and the store. This block opens towards a compact kitchen utility yard towards the north. 

photo_credit Praveen Mohandas
Praveen Mohandas

The bedroom block positioned at the southwest corner of the site, to take advantage of the westerly sea breeze, is connected to the living block by means of a low height passage with a partly open to sky ceiling and a patch of landscape outside. As the bedroom block comes directly in range of the buzzing sound from the highway, it was planned in such a manner that bedrooms were placed towards the west to be blocked by means of a toilet + foyer bay and the staircase bay towards the east. Furthermore, the top part of this block’s facade facing east, was left deliberately without any fenestration to protect it from any disturbances from the highway. 

photo_credit Praveen Mohandas
Praveen Mohandas
photo_credit Praveen Mohandas
Praveen Mohandas

All the four blocks were placed on site with pockets of landscape between each one of them and the compound walls to buffer them from the assaulting pollution from the highway. Moreover, the bedroom being the tallest block on the site and located at the southwest end of the site would shade the abutting living room block for a significant part of the year from the harsh southern sun. Strategically placed windows and openings make sure that there is ample ventilation throughout the year.

photo_credit Praveen Mohandas
Praveen Mohandas

Having lived in this house for a few months now, the homeowners are convinced that ‘The Hidden House’ is the right solution for their needs in a complex context such as this. 

photo_credit Praveen Mohandas
Praveen Mohandas

Team:

Architects: LIJO.RENY.architects

Lead Architects: Ar. RenyLijo and Ar. Lijo Jos

Interiors: LIJO.RENY.architects

Structural: Keystone Engineers

Electrical and Plumbing: Pradeep Thrissur, Vimin, Sugunan

Supervisor: Muneer Mandothingal, Mohammed Mehroof

Civil: Shape Builders, Muneer Mandothingal

Flooring:Ansar K and Ismail Tirur

Painting:Salam Tirurand Nizar Tirur

Door, Wardrobes, Kitchen and other Carpentry Work: 1000 Kitchens, Sreekrishnan P

Lighting:Enlite Energy Solutions

Landscape:PLOT 1, Green Planet  

Glass Supplier and Installation:Mohammed Shafeer, Aluminium World

Steel Fabrication: Mohammed Shereef

Photographs: Praveen Mohandas

photo_credit Praveen Mohandas
Praveen Mohandas

Materials used:

Soft Furnishing:IKEA

Flooring: Granite,NexionVitrified tiles

Bath room tiles: Nexion Vitrified tiles

Paving: Flamed Garnite

Furniture and Artefacts: IKEA, Home Center

Sanitaryware / Fittings:Roca, Kohler, Toto, Grohe,Gebrit, Jaguar, Kistenmacher

Switches/ Electrical Fittings: Legrand, Havells, Luker, RR, Philips

Lights:Epistar ADCL LED strip lights

Paint:Jotun, Asian

Kitchen Appliances: Bosch, Hafele

Door Accessories: Hettich, Hafele

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