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  • A Rocky Site Shapes The Nature Centred Design Of Coco Beans | Aamir and Hameeda

     At its heart, Coco Beans is a home about coexistence. The home stays connected to the land, the trees, the changing light and atmosphere, and the rhythms of everyday life. The architecture responds to the site with sensitivity and intention, creating a home that feels connected to its surroundings. Set on a rocky 700 sq. yd. plot in Hyderabad, the 6,000 sq. ft. residence spans three levels. It is designed for a family with a deep connection to nature and the life around them. Named after the family’s cat, Coco Beans, the home carries a sense of familiarity and warmth from the very beginning. It feels personal not through overt gestures, but through the way the spaces respond to everyday living.

    A Rocky Site Shapes The Nature Centred Design Of Coco Beans | Aamir and Hameeda

    Landscape-Led Planning

    The site arrived with its own identity. Existing trees, uneven terrain, excavated stone, shifting light, and natural contours became the starting point of the design process. The initial concepts were set aside when the team realised that the original footprint would require removing several mature trees. The design process began again, this time allowing the landscape itself to guide the planning.

    Instead of flattening the terrain to accommodate a conventional footprint, the planning evolved around what was already there. Mature trees shaped the home’s layout, while courtyards emerged around preserved pockets of greenery. Strategically placed openings maintain a continuous connection with the outdoors. Rather than simply framing views of nature, the residence embraces a way of living that moves naturally between indoor and outdoor spaces.

    Nature Over Scale

    The project followed an adaptive planning process, allowing the design to evolve organically through the course of construction. The layout was refined to preserve openness, retain existing trees and strengthen connections with the courtyards. This approach meant rethinking conventional ideas of scale and luxury, with less emphasis on expansive formal spaces and additional built-up area.

    The result is a residence that feels breathable, open, and constantly connected to its surroundings. Nature does not sit outside the home as a visual backdrop. It moves through the experience of the space itself. Mornings unfold with filtered light moving through the courtyards, afternoons retreat into shaded transitional spaces, and evenings soften against stone, wood, and warm pools of light. The house shifts gently through the day, responding continuously to changing light, weather, and season.

    Reclaimed Stone Details

    One of the defining aspects of the project is the extensive reuse of excavated stone from the site. Reincorporated into CRS walls and sculptural architectural elements, the material creates a direct continuity between the terrain and the built form, allowing the land to remain physically embedded within the identity of the house. Concrete, wood and stone form a restrained, neutral palette that allows the surrounding greenery to remain the dominant visual presence throughout the home.
    Filtered daylight, warm lighting, and tactile detailing soften the honesty of the materials further.

    The residence incorporates sloping roofs inspired by traditional Kerala architecture, a language the homeowners felt deeply drawn to. The roofscape emerged later in the design process while the elevations were being developed, eventually becoming one of the defining visual elements of the home. Rising and dropping across the structure in dramatic slopes and angles, the roofline introduces movement, shade, and sculptural depth to the architecture while reinforcing the spatial character of the interiors below.

    Connected Indoor Outdoors

    Louvered wooden windows encourage natural ventilation and privacy, while courtyards and transitional spaces allow light, shadow, breeze, and landscape to move fluidly through the home across the course of the day. Semi-open sit-outs, shaded thresholds, and layered circulation spaces further blur the boundaries between inside and outside, creating a home that feels constantly in conversation with its surroundings.

    At the centre of the residence, a single-cast reinforced cement concrete spiral staircase rises sculpturally through the space, acting as both a functional connector and a visual anchor. The first floor houses two guest bedrooms linked through a lobby overlooking the courtyards below, while the upper-level master suite sits immersed in softened natural light and views of the surrounding trees.

    Playful Personal Touches

    Though minimal in expression, the home never feels austere. Animal-inspired sculptures, collected art pieces, and a bold Art Deco couch introduce moments of playfulness and personality within the otherwise restrained material palette, allowing the residence to feel intimate and lived in. There is an ease to the way the spaces come together. Nothing feels overly polished or performative. The home feels designed to be inhabited fully, whether that means muddy paws running across the courtyard, conversations spilling into semi-open spaces, or long stretches of stillness framed by the trees outside.

    Rather than maximising built-up space or relying on conventional markers of luxury, Coco Beans openness, atmosphere, and coexistence with the landscape. It is a home shaped not by excess, but by choices made with care. The result is a residence that feels less constructed on the site and more as though it naturally belongs to it.

    Fact File

    Designed by: Aamir and Hameeda

    Project Type: Residential Architecture Design

    Project Name: Coco Beans House

    Location: Hyderabad

    Year Built: 2025

    Principal Architect: Aamir Sharma & Hameeda Sharma

    Photograph Courtesy: ishifishy

    Architecture & Interiors Studio: Aamir and Hameeda

    Source: Archdaily

    Firm’s Website Link: Aamir and Hameeda

    Firm’s Instagram Link: Aamir and Hameeda

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