Paati Veedu, located in southern India, began with the vision of an elderly grandmother (Paati) with Terminal Cancer, whose wish was to rebuild her ancestral home and spend herfinal years in a space she could call her own.
The Site is located in the outskirts of Mayiladuthurai, in Southern India. Paati set the 1200 sq ft site in a neighbourhood with small houses, trees, and agricultural fields. She managed the project with her limited financial resources and the 10,000 bricks that she had personally purchased over time.
Editor’s Note: Designed by Koodu Architecture, this residence is built upon the existing foundation, which was reinforced with a plinth beam to support new load-bearing brick walls. The plan remains compact and highly functional, organized through a simple and circulation pattern. Brown mud-plastered walls and green oxide flooring, with its naturally varied texture, lend the home a grounded material character while embracing the beauty of handcrafted finishes.
Paati Veedu, Located In Southern India, Is A Reimagination Of An Ancestral Home | Koodu Architecture
The design process was driven entirely by economy, resourcefulness, and reuse, while ensuring the residence remained dignified, livable, and emotionally resonant.
We reinforced the existing foundation with a plinth beam, creating a base fornew load-bearing brick walls. The single-story plan remained compact and functional – a welcoming veranda, a modest living room, a comfortable kitchen,and a bedroom with an attached toilet.
The veranda provides a space to pause, sit after a day of hard work in the fields, and to socialise. The entrance foyer also doubles as a pooja area, connecting to the living room. The living room provides access to the kitchen and bedrooms, creating a simple circulation pattern that is easier to navigate.
The materiality of the house in southern India draws from the everyday landscape familiar to Paati as a farmer. As she walks through the house and touches the brown mud-plastered walls, they resemble the colour and texture of the earth she has walked on all her life. The green oxide flooring with its naturally varied texture recalls the vibrant paddy fields surrounding the site.
The skirting featured imprints of paddy grains, adding texture to the oxide finish. Broken and leftover marble from a nearby site was cut into floral geometric patterns and inlaid into the oxide flooring.
As materials became scarce, the design adapted. With bricks running out, alarge semi circular arched window was added to the living room. Built in steeland patterned with leftover reinforcement stirrups, it fills the space with lightand opens the house to the landscape outside. This window is also an important opening that facilitates cross-ventilation and supplies fresh air throughout the house. The grill carries an abstract expression of water, sun,and trees, quietly reflecting the elements of nature. Reused doors and windows, restored and fitted with stained glass, bring familiarity and a quietsense of continuity to the home.
Niche-like openings were introduced in the walls, separated by glass, creatingsafe nesting spaces for birds on the exterior. From inside, Paati can observethem quietly, without disturbing their presence, in a subtle way, inviting life intothe home.
The veranda, covered in reused Mangalore tiles, features a structural detail in which the builders coupled two bamboo poles to form a single structural member. This”twin-stem” framework creates a lightweight yet robust structural system.
During the monsoon, a concrete gutter channels rainwater into the garden, creating a sensory experience that grounds the home in its environment.
Ultimately, Paati Veedu is less about architectural spectacle and more about the spirit of making do, reusing, and creating meaning within limitations.
Fact File
Designed by: Koodu Architecture
Project Type: Residential Architecture Design
Project Name: Paati veedu
Location: Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu
Year Built: 2026
Duration of the project: 5 Months
Plot Area: 1200 Sq.ft
Project Size: 520 Sq.ft
Principal Architect: Ar. Arjun Govind
Photograph Courtesy: hosh_pictures
Firm’s Website Link: Koodu Architecture
The Firm’s Instagram Link: Koodu Architecture
Firm’s Facebook Link: Koodu Architecture
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