Orange House – A Very Minimalistic Design Approach | Studio Habitect
The house is located in Kharbi, a developing locality in the orange city of Nagpur, Maharashtra. The clients had a very basic brief of two-bedroom hall kitchen for a family of four. The house is built across a plot of 1650 sqft. having a dimension of 30‘ x 55‘ and in a total budget of Rs 25 lakhs.
Visit: Studio Habitect
With this design, we wanted to demonstrate that houses can be built across a small plot and at a low budget without having to compromise on design, aesthetics, and comfort of built spaces.
The plot is located in a very dry locality with rather scarce vegetation, so we felt a need for creating green spaces within the house to connect the users to the surrounding. This was achieved by bringing the peripheral passages into the house and turning them into green spaces.
The massing of the house is fairly simple and is based on the basic design principle of addition and subtraction of volumes to create voids and rigid geometries. Two negative volumes created in front of the house functions as the entrance foyer and car park area, whereas the living area and staircase tower can be perceived as two cuboidal volumes added to the mass.Horizontal and vertical lines sinked in crisp solid volumes define the front elevation of the house.
Spatially the house has been divided into two types of spaces. One is the extroverted zone, comprising of the entrance foyer, living and dining area looking towards the street. The idea was to create a visual connectivity amongst the informal spaces to create a sense of bigger spatial volume. The other is the introverted zone comprising of the two bedrooms.
We felt a strong need to bring nature into the house by creating green pockets and emphasizing the natural light penetrating through the volume. We have incorporated a small court adjoining the living and dining area with an overhead skylight. The light entering through the skylight is ever-present throughout the day, with the puja area receiving the early morning sun. The wall underneath the skylight is cladded using yellow Shahabad stone which acts as a natural canvas for the light entering through the skylight and a perfect backdrop for the living area.
Post noon, Sunlight gushes into the house from the front facade creating beautiful patterns that highlight the volume and solid geometry of the house and during the evening you can see a beautiful sunset from the front foyer and living area.
The house is designed in a wood, white and grey theme with orange used to highlight the walls enveloping the front façade. The use of orange emphasizes the volume and dramatizes the entrance. The wood used in the front elevation to create vertical louvers, windows and fabricated staircase brings a touch of luxury to the house.
The kitchen is designed in a white and copper theme using PVC laminate sheets keeping the look clean and simple. The staircase has been designed to catch the viewer’s attention as one enters the house. It is designed with a very minimalistic approach to keep the cost low and to make it visually lighter, allowing more light to enter through the stairwell making it perceived as a larger volume.
FACT FILE:
Architecture Firm: Studio Habitect
Project Name: Orange House
Client: Mr. Suraj Randive
Completion Year – 2020
Plot Area – 1650 sq. ft.
Gross Built Area – 1500 sq. ft.
Total Cost – INR 25,00,000
Project location – Nagpur, India
Principal Architects: Ar. Aman Chand, Ar. Akshay Bhandarkar
Photo credits: Courtesy of Studio Habitect, Pratik Panzade
Website: https://www.studiohabitect.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studiohabitect
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studiohabitect/
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 […]