Tucked within a vast ancestral property in Vadodara, Gujarat — where the past lives in quiet harmony with the present — stands a newly built insert. It is not a museum in the conventional sense, but an intimate houseum, a house museum. Milind Shivani Designs, alongside the grounds of a residence originally envisioned by the veteran architect Suryakant Patel, designed the new volume as an extension of the family’s living room, both in spirit and form.
A Museum House In Vadodara Stands As An Intimate Space In Spirit And Form | Milind Shivani Designs
It is an architectural gesture that reveres lineage, embraces context, and redefines what it means to preserve heritage in a living, breathing way. Set on a contoured 5,500 sq. ft. patch of land adjacent to the old bungalow, the site posed both challenges and opportunities.
The goal was to introduce a built form that felt neither foreign nor dominant. The pavilion becomes a respectful visitor on ancestral soil rather than a permanent occupant. This idea of temporality is central to the design ethos of this museum house. It reflects a consciousness toward preserving not just heritage, but the ecosystem it resides in.
The structure of the museum house follows the contours of the site and does not interrupt existing ecological rhythms. Old trees, the soil’s texture, and visual corridors to the ancestral home are all preserved. There is a strong emphasis on visual quietude — the form seeks not to compete, but to coexist.
The project was born out of a simple need — a place to house the family’s collection of vintage cars. They had long been scattered, put away in various places. But the design evolved the brief into something far more meaningful. A curated pavilion that seamlessly blends utility with emotion. The designers created a space where vintage vehicles, heirloom furniture, and collectable objects are not just stored, but celebrated.
Built over a contoured site, the structure of the museum house rises gradually from the ground. The pavilion is layered across ten stepped levels, carefully calibrated to ensure ease of movement for cars, with a ramped circulation path that lets each vehicle enter and exit without disturbing the others. The architectural volume remains conscious not to overwhelm — neither the collection nor the natural surroundings.
The goal was balance: to be playful, rich, and rooted. The structure is made entirely of metal — a temporary and dismantlable frame — selected for its reversibility and light ecological footprint. With brick load bearing arches, shera board panelling, and a distinctive hyperbolic paraboloid roof made of fibreglass reinforced plastic, the space resonates with the language of the ancestral bungalow nearby.
The arched wall at the rear demarcates the car gallery from the collective section, while creating a visual rhythm that ties the new with the old. There’s an inherent porosity to the design — every door is an entry point; the envelope breathes.
The front houses the cars, while the back — enclosed and courtyard-facing — becomes a quieter haven for antique furniture and collectibles. This duality of display and introspection is at the core of the project.
The hyperbolic paraboloid roof emerges as a defining element — sculpting an expressive spatial volume while ensuring the structure remains grounded and unobtrusive within its ecological and architectural context.
Anchored in the site’s architectural and emotional context — the structured calm of the orchard-lined terrain, the architectural legacy of the ancestral bungalow, and the historical continuity embedded in the family’s long-standing presence.
With a design that leans more towards an exhibition space cum experiential lounge than a traditional archive, the pavilion becomes a gathering space for the family — a living room for legacy.
It even spills into a semi-open courtyard at the rear, designed for intimate events and informal interactions. A formal entry from the side leads into this courtyard, creating a journey from the exterior through the gallery and into the heart of the pavilion. The museum’s flexibility is its greatest strength.
Whether it’s the flow of vintage cars, the story-laden furniture, or the quiet coming together of people and memories, the architecture adapts and evolves. It doesn’t dictate function; it allows for dialogue — between time, generations, and artifacts. As a community space with a personal soul, it challenges the notion of a garage or storage shed and repositions it as something more generous and intentional.
Challenges concerning the contours, curvilinear plans, and temporary materials, every decision — whether the permeable layout, or the lightweight construction — was rooted in contextual responsiveness and client needs.
Perhaps the most powerful outcome lies in how the space transformed the family’s relationship with their own collection. What was once scattered and hidden has now found a stage. The act of designing not only curated the objects but also curated pride — in history, in identity, and in inheritance.
In the end, the pavilion is not just a structure — it is a living dialogue between memory and modernity. It honors the ecological and historical importance of the site while quietly enriching the family’s daily life. It is a space where the past is not frozen, but felt. Where the idea of home stretches its arms just a little wider to welcome time, beauty, and belonging.
Fact File
Designed by: Milind Shivani Designs
Project Type: Residential Architecture Design
Project Name: The Houseum
Location: Ampad, Vadodara
Year Built: 2024
Duration of the project: 2022-2023
Project Size: 5500 Sq.ft
Principal Architects: Ar. Milind Mistry & Ar. Shivani Kapadia
Team Design Credits: Prem Patel & Aryan Gohil
Photograph Courtesy: The Space Tracing Company
Products / Materials / Vendors: Finishes – Exposed Brick, Glass and Mild Steel / Construction Materials – Exposed Brick Masonry, MS Roof Framing, Fibre Reinforced Polymer Roofing / Sanitaryware – Kohler Facade Systems – MS doors with Glass Infill / Flooring – Kotah Stone, China Mosaic / Paint – Zycosil Coat
Consultants for the Project: Structure Engineers – Vishvakarma Consultants / Contractors – Amarsingh Bhai / Project Managers – Bhavin Shah / Interior Styling – Milind Shivani Designs / Client Name.- Avani Patel, Kushal Patel, Karishma Doshi
Firm’s Instagram Link: Milind Shivani Designs
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