Located in South of Bangalore the KU Residence occupies a 280 m2 site with an extensive program of five bedrooms with attached toilets, kitchen-dining, Jacuzzi deck, home theatre, games room, large living room with water body, rooftop garden and two car garage with a basement which houses the living quarters for the domestic help and a storage room. The result is a 480 m2 house spread over three floors that constantly negotiates between the levels and the visual connections between them. The residence is home to an entrepreneur couple with their two children and their elderly parents.
Much attention has been given to carefully craft the volumes and the interrelationship of each of the spaces. Visually connecting the various levels of the residence furthered the spatial horizon and made it look roomier without visual hindrance. Double height volumes were introduced to ease tensions of small spaces and they were detailed with wood patterns and highlighted with sculptural treatment of walls.
Much attention has been given to carefully craft the volumes and the interrelationship of each of the spaces. Visually connecting the various levels of the residence furthered the spatial horizon and made it look roomier without visual hindrance. Double height volumes were introduced to ease tensions of small spaces and they were detailed with wood patterns and highlighted with sculptural treatment of walls.
Teak wood, locally sourced stone, traditional textured paints, traditional artwork were all juxtaposed to create the eclectic and to blend the traditional with the contemporary to give the house a sense of warmth and create a sense of identity.
One of the key design elements of the house was to make the periphery of the house transparent to visually connect beyond its seams in strategic areas to ease the internal tension of the spatially tight box. A large sized glass was used in the compound wall almost like a display window to connect the house to the street, many skylights were employed to give spatial relief on the vertical axis as the sky and the natural light was made accessible from various parts of the house. Visual frames connected the inside to the outside, and large extents of walls opened to the periphery to extend the inside spaces to the edge of the site and beyond.
The house is located at the intersection of two streets. The red volume which houses an entertainment space on the inside was intentionally placed at the intersection of the two streets to lend a sense of vibrant character to the street.