KNR 01 is designed as the vacation home for a family of five for the present, which will eventually be their permanent residence once they move back to India a decade later.
Designed For A Family Of Five, This Vacation Home Is Set Amidst The Hills | Studio 74051
The vibrant, charming and active family of five had a clear vision about their home. This helped a great deal in developing this project. Rather than the spatial requirements, they remained particular about the way their lives are to unfold in the spaces built for them.
For both the adults, the memories from their pre-expat years, of childhood and of school days in the idyllic north Kannur village hold a special place in their hearts. The design strives to strike this chord of familiarity. It draws comfort from the place by framing specific vistas. It uses materials that invoke those memories, and most importantly, it clearly defines the form to align with these ideas.
Their yearly visits to Kannur for vacation in the monsoon was another major anchor point. The Kerala monsoon rains and the dark gloomy air around it would be a constant and strong presence throughout their stay. This fact could not be overlooked. We wholeheartedly embraced both these elements.
The first step was to conceive an open and free flowing plan with nooks and special places for every member of the family. It was all centred around a kitchen which became the core of the house. This core opens to the various activity zones of the house. It includes a large private verandah for private parties. It also has a plunge pool for the boys and a number of private balconies, patios and skylit courts.
A ten feet high porotherm wall with carefully placed vertical openings ensures a great degree of privacy for these areas and simultaneously it helps frame the hills, the clouds and at times even their neighbors.This framing was another major element in the design. While it ensures adequate privacy it eliminates the need for any compound wall around the property.
The clients embraced the idea of a compound without walls or strongly defined boundaries, just like the village they remember from three decades ago. The house stands tall yet one with the surrounding without a gate or a compound wall separating it from its neighbours.
Fact File
Designed by: Studio 74051
Project Type: Residential Architecture Design
Project Name: KNR 01
Location: Kannur, Kerala
Year Built: 2021
Duration of the project: 3 years
Plot Area: 1.3 acre
Built-up Area: 5100 Sq.ft
Principal Architect: Ar. Neenu Treesa Pious
Photograph Courtesy: Syam Sreesylam
Products / Materials / Vendors: Wallcovering / Cladding – Painted portotherm bricks and plastered laterite walls / Construction Materials – Laterite stone, wood, terracotta and steel / Doors and Partitions –Teak Wood / Sanitaryware –Kohler and Vitra / Windows – Teak wood carpentry / Furniture – Loft Kochi Flooring – Kota and Marble / Kitchen – Artificial Marble and Modular kitchen / Paint –Asian Paints
Consultants for the Project: Civil – Mr. Thomas kutty and Mr. Mohanan / Interior Designers – Ar. Neenu Treesa Pious / Landscape Architects – Ar. Anjali Anoop / Contractors – Thomas Kutty / Project Managers – Santhosh
Firm’s Instagram Link: Studio 74051
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