The site is located adjacent to the spiritual Osho Ashram. It is amidst lush green surrounding with no high rise buildings around. The brief of Maheshwari House was to design contemporary house for the family of ten people and their support staff. Being a joint family with people of three generations living together, the old parents were keen on the newer generations to always have glimpses of their beginnings and the history so far along the timeline. Considering this aim mostly customized artwork has thought to play a very important role in revealing history and culture acting as an expressive story telling medium to the younger generation. In the similar manner it acts as memoir to the older people who have always lived a very socio communal lifestyle throughout the years and will be accepting the change in this somewhat secluded house amidst nature away from the city might offer.

Editor’s Note: The design of Anil Ranka’s Maheshwari House absorbs the pure ambience of the adjacent Osho Ashram, with its minimalist material palette and lush greenery. One could feel serenity eminating from every corner, not to forget the gentle stream at the entrance and the expansive courtyards. The most captivating aspect is the mandir design, with its stone steps leading up like a stairway to heaven. – Gopika Pramod

Maheshwari House indulges in an intricate experience that caters all senses | Anil Ranka Architects

Design Process / Planning & Circulation

The site consists of 102 trees which we have retained by creating courtyards in our design. It is a timeless home with transition of era and generations to accommodate different demands. It is designed in a way that the user would experience the space not only visually but with all his five senses.

The house is divided into two levels ground floor and first floor. And the area is segregated into four zones Re-creational, Public, Semi public and private spaces to achieve complete privacy.

The built spaces are woven around the existing trees and built in resonance with the nature around it with least impact on the local ecology. The plan promotes cross ventilation. Passive cooling effect is achieved by correct placement of water body around the cluster and sky light with ventilators.

The courtyards planned in the house, help in stack ventilation. Inner spaces meet outdoor spaces without disturbing the functionality and circulation. Interior spaces open completely into the surrounding by the use of glass facade and deck areas.

Mandir

We see stepping stones along the water body leading to the Mandir. The white marble inside Mandir is giving the feeling of positivity and calmness, while colorful niches are adding a sense of drama to space. The pyramidal skylight above brings natural light to the space.

As you enter the house the water bodies with shrub bed on the both side of the pathway leads you to main entry off the parking area. From the entry the landscape provides a sense of privacy.

This lush green landscape around the house gives you an eye-pleasing and serene feeling.  Almost all the major trees have been retained and the whole structure is designed around them.

Formal Living

The first room we come across is the formal living on the left with double height ceiling and addition of skylight. The customized painting enhances the interior of the area while the grand black piano creates a sophisticated ambience.

The south wall is cladded with Travertine stone which is highlighted with skylight, so that the play of light and shadows act as live picture frame changing throughout day time. Large openings give amazing view and connect with the outside landscape and water body.

The sunken seating next to informal living area is a perfect cozy place for conversation. It is the main emphasis point and serene place for the gathering. Tickling sound of water calms you.

The art work of Krishna created by the use of stencil embossed during concrete casting. The engraving becomes a subtle highlight.

The interior of dining area consist of vibrant painting on the wall. The custom made dining table with chair along with customized concrete chandelier above gives the sense of richness. It also has an outdoor dining area. It is a great experience to have breakfast while listening to birds chirping around. We’ve framed the view of external Champa tree through the glass.

The large bedrooms in the house give the feeling of luxury. The material pallet in the tones of brown, grey and beige is ensuring the lavishness of bedrooms. Each bedroom has a courtyard planned around existing trees.

Also every bedroom has their own personal large terrace with landscape outside. Each area of the bedroom is lit by natural light coming through the courtyard. The bedroom has outdoor Jacuzzi with naturally lit skylight above. A bedroom is a pure representation of elegance and grace.

Courtyard

The narrow double height passage leads you to the heart of the house that is courtyard. It is the place in the house where you can connect with outside environment, while seating inside the house.

The indoor landscape along with water body, hanging lights and 26’ long swing leaves you with amazing experience. The cantilevered staircase surrounded by the big louvered window captures landscape around the site.

Spatial Experience

The interior engulfs a unified, minimum material palette in neutral tones. Spirit of zeal, liveliness and vibrancy is added with Indian local art forms like paintings, sculptures and through soft furnishing. Glass helps to connect outside and inside seamlessly, eventually the entire space echoes tranquility.

Material Pallet

Analyzing all the client requirements we defined our design vocabulary with an intention to create user friendly home and drafted our designs in its simplest and elegant forms. Hence we chose to engage into soothing earthy palette by bringing in the tones of greys and browns.

The natural and sustainable materials like, exposed concrete, sand blast finished grey granite complement the wooden flooring. The wallpapers, antique sculptures and soft furnishing add its own warmth and create visual interest for the user. The Furniture was kept minimalistic and modern. This design is an amalgamation of traditional living pattern and contemporary ambience.

Interesting Design Feature: Art As A Moment Of Pause

In these times where technology has made our lives fast, one usually finds a void created in the mental, spiritual, socio communal balance in humans. Here was an attempt to try and address this, with art becoming the tool of ‘Pause’. Though the house is quite big in terms of its scale and volume to human

Volumes

The Three-dimensional extrusion of the basic plan is modified to the context. The adaptation of basic geometric forms of the structure merges well with the surrounding. While moving closely around the house it expresses a different character when viewed from each perspective. The single mass is broken into modules, each having a different purpose. The modules are a combination of blocks with varying orientations, in response to the microclimate. The building is characterized by the overhang, which is creating interesting elevation and acts as a shading device for the structure. The glazed openings in the walls soften the volumes of the building. Slight color differences and stone cladding separates the volumes, creating an almost pictorial quality out of the different shades.

Fact File

Designed by: Anil Ranka Architects

Project Type: Residential Architecture Design

Project Name: Maheshwari House

Location: Koregaon Park, Pune

Year Built: 2020

Duration of the project: 2.3 Years

Plot Area: 65,000 Sq.ft

Built-up Area: 35,000 Sq.ft

Principal Architect: Ar. Anil Ranka

Team Design Credits: Ar. Junaid, Ar. Mohsin & Amisha

Photograph Courtesy: Onil Shah (Instagram)

Photograph Courtesy: Onil Shah (Website)

Products / Materials / Vendors: Wallcovering / Cladding – Stone Studio / Lighting – Endo / Doors and Partitions – Onsite / Sanitaryware – Kohler / Furniture – Fendi / Trussardi / Molteni / Alberta / Flooring – Italian Marble / Kitchen – Radiance Kitchen / Paint – Asian Paints / Artefacts – Anand Panchal / Wallpaper – Elemento / Hardware – Haffele

Consultants for the Project: Civil – Om Constructions / Interior Designers – Anil Ranka Architects Landscape Architects – Anil Ranka Architects + Shobha Bhopatkar / MEP & HVAC Consultants – Urja Consultant , Weatherspell, Satish Gharpure / Structure Engineers – Sunil Mutalik / Lighting Designers – Anil Ranka Architects / Acoustics Consultants – The sound factory

Firm’s Website Link: Anil Ranka Architects

Firm’s Instagram Link: Anil Ranka Architects

Firm’s Facebook Link: Anil Ranka Architects

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