Indian architecture studio Iki Builds has completed Soil and Soul Studio. It is a home in Hyderabad crafted with a palette of natural, local materials and construction rubble. “The architects located the 130-square-metre home between two large yards. It is placed among a series of farmhouses and trees in Chevella, and designed it as a quiet retreat for a client who works from home.”
Local Materials And Sustainable Building Techniques Craft This Rural Indian Home | Iki Builds
Iki Builds has created a house in rural India. Drawing on these surroundings and the simple yet functional farm buildings, Iki Builds prioritized using recycled and natural materials for the project, and creating a connection to the outdoors. “The studio intends this as a comment on modern construction and demonstrates the potential of waste in architecture.”
It is located among trees on farmland in Hyderabad, our guiding philosophy was to forge an architecture that listens to the land, said principal architect Vamshidhar Reddy. This meant minimizing our environmental footprint by radically rethinking conventional construction. The design embraces a fusion of time-honoured vernacular wisdom and contemporary sustainable innovation, he told Dezeen. It represents a quiet rebellion against the disposable nature of modern construction. It stands as a testament to the fact that waste is simply a resource we haven’t found a creative use for yet.
The builders partly used local and recycled materials to construct it. They built the walls of the home using a mix of rubble from nearby demolished buildings, soil excavated from the site, and a minimal amount of cement. They then covered the walls with a layer of earth-coloured render.
A combination of traditional Madras terrace roofs – made using timber joists, brick, and lime topped with patterned tiles – and more modern vaulted concrete shells crowns the home above. The designers left these roof structures, as well as the wall render, exposed on the home’s interior, which brings what the studio describes as a textural richness and earthy coolness.
The studio said the design critiques “the disposable nature of modern construction” The walls tell a story of transformation, of turning rubble that would have ended up in a landfill into a beautiful, functional, and thermally efficient part of a home, Reddy said.
Philosophically, it embodies circularity. Aesthetically, it gives the studio its unique textural richness and monolithic, earthy character. Functionally, its thermal mass is the primary reason for the building’s exceptional natural comfort, he added.
An earth-coloured render cloaks the walls. A large, 30-year-old neem tree beside the entrance informed the layout of the home. The studio described this tree as a sacred anchor for the entire structure. A wall wraps around the tree, which sits at the centre of a courtyard at the front of the home. A paved seating area surrounds it, and the kitchen and living room overlook this space.
The slightly higher volume of the living space extends into a mezzanine sleeping area, accessed via a black steel stair, where an additional window looks out at the courtyard and tree. The shallow plan of the home maximises its connection to both this front courtyard and the backyard, which is sheltered beneath a canopy formed of wooden poles previously used as scaffolding during construction.
Fact FileDesigned by: Iki Builds
Project Type: Residential Architecture Design
Project Name: Rural Indian home
Location: Hyderabad
Principal Architects: Vamshi Sama & Mounica Reddy
Photograph Courtesy: Vivek Eadara
Firm’s Instagram Link: Iki Builds
For Similar Project >> A Meticulously Designed House that Caters to a Joint Family while Embracing the Principles of Vastu Shastra
Editor’s Note: Some places feel rooted because they belong to their surroundings rather than trying to stand apart from them. Coffee Sangam in Andhra Pradesh takes this approach through a raw, tactile palette of brick, stone, teak, and mild steel. The random rubble compound wall extends the landscape into the architecture, while the Corten steel […]
Envisioned as a contemporary home rooted in Indian sensibilities, this residence sits on a south-facing urban plot. The design accommodates the evolving lifestyle of a multi-generational family. The project integrates architecture and interiors to create functional, climate-responsive, and emotionally connected spaces. Each level balances privacy with interaction. The design also allows flexibility for changing family […]
Editorial Note: Some homes are shaped by the memories, objects, and stories their residents carry with them. Ungana in Chennai, meaning “merge” in Swahili, brings together a well-travelled family’s collection of antiques and everyday rituals within a narrow urban plot. A double-height living space becomes the heart of the home, connecting the kitchen and dining […]
House of the Framed Atrium explores how a contemporary home can revolve around light, connection, and shared experiences. The design follows the ideas of a Living Atrium, Living with Nature, Framed Volumes, Vertical Living, and Timeless Materiality. The residence connects a sequence of interconnected spaces around a dramatic triple-height atrium. The atrium forms the heart […]
A Mock-up That Became a Home – For an architecture practice, a mock-up often helps test an idea before the team translates it into a larger project. It allows architects to work at full scale, examine materials and construction techniques, and understand their limitations. The process also gives them room to test different brick bonds and […]
The house began not with a formal brief, but with a conversation about the kind of life the clients hoped to build within it. Set between the denser urban fabric of Kannur and the quieter residential landscapes of North Kerala, the project responds to a desire for openness and connection. At the same time, the […]
“Pravah” — A House That Breathes is envisioned as the main concept of this home revolves around a fluid, light-filled home where architecture becomes a continuous experience of movement, air, and connection. Located in Pal Gamtal, Surat, the project is a residential redevelopment on a 1,850 sq.ft. plot within a dense urban fabric. The site, […]
Timeless architectural features, such as courtyards, are always associated with bringing the naturally public forms to the world’s heart, building the most peaceful, secluded outdoor areas. These outdoor spaces maximize the living experience with their private space feature, which gives one the option for leisurely relaxation, recreation, or gardening. Furthermore, it has also been a […]
Architecture font choices go beyond style—they shape how your work is perceived. From portfolios to presentations, the right architecture font instantly communicates clarity, precision, and personality. As architects, we design not just with space but with every detail, including typography. Selecting a strong architecture font shows your commitment to visual storytelling and design consistency. In […]
The Indian farmhouse accommodation goes on to capitalize on a mature evolutionary synthesis of ancestral aesthetics and contemporary features. With this, the outside and the inside of farmhouses became places of comfort with nature. In this blog, we delve into 15 incredible farmhouse designs that entail a harmonious blending. While they exhibit different spaces in […]