Set within the dense urban fabric of Ahmedabad, Rooshikiran navigates one of the most complex residential briefs in recent memory – the simultaneous construction of a contemporary family home and a traditional white-marble Jain derasar on a single shared plot. More than a planning exercise, the project is a quiet meditation on coexistence: between the modern and the ancestral, between spiritual devotion and domestic life, between the inherited and the freshly imagined.
Studio MINIM
The site itself set the terms of the architectural conversation. With a marble Jain derasar of considerable ornamental intricacy rising on the same grounds, the residence faced an unusual challenge – how to assert its own spatial identity without competing with the visual density of devotional architecture. The response was one of deliberate restraint.
The home’s facade is resolved as a quiet composition of clean white volumes and textured grey planes, deliberately muted so that it recedes gracefully beside the Jain derasar’s elaborate detail. Two buildings, two architectures, one coherent ground. The dialogue between them is not one of contrast but of considered respect – each holding its own without diminishing the other.
The client’s brief was unusually precise in its intentions. Three foundational requirements – complete adherence to Vastu Shastra principles, maximum penetration of natural light and an aggressive storage strategy within a compact footprint – formed the non-negotiable framework. But beneath these were the deeper asks: a home that functioned as a physical manifestation of family history and belief, a space where 100 to 150 years old heirloom furniture could live without incongruity and an architectural homage to the client’s mother – a figure with a deep background in textile design – through the careful integration of her personal collection of printed sarees.
Designing compactly while accommodating monumental antique furniture, extensive storage and the precise directional logic of Vastu Shastra demanded rigorous spatial discipline. Storage was reimagined as architecture – floor to ceiling units and under-stair volumes resolved as structural gestures rather than inserted cabinetry, every cubic metre choreographed without a sense of crowding.
At the heart of the residence lies the project’s most technically ambitious gesture – one that is simultaneously structural and cosmological. At Rooshikiran, the Brahmasthan zone is marked by a glass brick floor positioned directly beneath a large skylight. The execution made a bold engineering decision: the glass floor was achieved entirely without RCC structural members. No bulky concrete beams interrupt the luminous field. The floor reads as visually weightless – a floating plane of light at the geometric and spiritual centre of the home.
At the precise centre of the glass grid, brass punctures allow energy to pass unobstructed through the floor plane.
Through the central skylight and a system of generously proportioned fenestrations, Rooshikiran becomes, in effect, a sundial. The quality of interior light shifts continuously – morning sunlight entering at one angle, afternoon shadows pooling differently, the character of each space transforming with the hour.
Shadow play animates every surface. The ancestral textiles catch and diffuse light differently at different times of day. The glass brick floor glows. The skylight traces its slow arc across the interior. Architecture and time become inseparable.
Ultimately, Rooshikiran embodies a rare kind of duality. It demonstrates that tradition and contemporary design can coexist, enriching one another rather than standing in opposition. It follows Vastu principles with care while embracing bold structural innovation. Its compact footprint unfolds into a remarkably generous spatial experience. Family memories shape its character, while a disciplined architectural language brings clarity and unity.
Fact File
Designed by: Studio MINIM
Project Type: Residential Architecture & Interior Design
Project Name: Rooshikiran House
Location: Shyamal, Ahmedabad
Year Built: 2025
Duration of the project: 1.5 Years
Plot Area: 2460 Sq.ft.
Built-up Area: 2580 Sq.ft.
Principal Architect: Ar. Shruti Desai
Team Design Credits: Ar. Harshil Panchal & ID. Ayushi Patel
Photograph Courtesy: harshil__photography
Products / Materials / Vendors: Exterior wall texture – Concrete finish exterior texture / Construction Materials – Brick masonry & RCC / Lighting – Neptune Lights / Doors and Partitions – Ghana Teak Wood & Mild Steel Sanitaryware – Kohler & Geberit / Windows – Aluminium Wooden Coated / Furniture -Wooden / Flooring – Polished & Leather finish kota stones Kitchen – IBIS quartz & subway tiles / Paint –Asian Paints / Artefacts – Home center, Westside home & CL Terracotta / Hardware – Local vendor
Firm’s Website Link: Studio MINIM
The Firm’s Instagram Link: Studio MINIM
Firm’s Facebook Link: Studio MINIM
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