The client sought a 5-cent corner plot house plan in a housing colony for his family of three in the city of Cochin, Kerala. Anticipating a crowded neighborhood as other plots filled up and ensuring optimum privacy for the family without compromising on daylight and ventilation became a crucial design challenge. 

This Corner Plot House Plan Does not Compromise on Ventilation | The Design Pursuit

The house strives to achieve a stark simplicity that contrasts with the visual noise of the modern world, presenting architecture as functional art responding to context. Almost monolithic in form, with a few punctures for windows, the expression of this house to the neighborhood reveals very little. 

For the client—a young couple with a kid engaged in a busy lifestyle—their limited time at home needs to be a deeply restorative experience. Furthermore, they did not require an ornate home, which would overwhelm them or become a maintenance hassle.

Design Approach

The frugal approach adopted in designing this project caters to the young city dwellers yearning to build a home in the urban context—where land rates are high and the neighborhood is crammed. 

Breaking away from the tendency to provide large windows, the design explores a more controlled interaction between interior and exterior spaces. On the contrary, the expectation set by the exterior’s character, the rooms inside are brightly lit, with daylight flooding in through skylights and ribbon windows.

Living Room

The living room is situated at the rear part of the house, away from the plot’s entrance. Although, a brief walk along the shaded veranda leading to the foyer allows a transitional journey from the street to the interior of the house—a luxury given the small size of the plot. 

Louis Kahn said, ‘Each space must be defined by its structure and the character of its natural light.’  The skylit stairwell—only partly visible upon entering the foyer—reveals the daylight spilling down into the living  while consciously hiding its source. 

The plain white walls and the gray floors present a sculptural canvas for the play of shadows. It renders the meditative experience in the living space. Furthermore, as evening falls, the atmosphere in the stairwell turns dramatic, with the shadows and colors shifting along with the changing sky.

Family Lounge

The family lounge is a couple steps down, serving as a conversation pit with its in-built sofa. Meanwhile, the dining area features a long ledge seat extending the room’s length. Additionally, the built-in seating in these common spaces accommodates a larger crowd within the compact home.

Bedrooms

The bedrooms are minimal, with just the bare necessities. Additionally, two of the bedrooms have private balconies attached to them. The third one is the kid’s bedroom with its in-built ledge seat and study table. In response to the tropical climate, the windows are deep-set to channel in breezes while shielding harsh sun. Moreover, strategically positioned ribbon windows maintain privacy without sacrificing visibility from the indoors. 

Massing of the Structure

The design presents as an asymmetrically balanced form, grounded in a strong sense of geometry. Moreover, the house’s solid-void massing discreetly blocks direct views into the private spaces from the outside. Nestled in an in-set volume, an expansive open-to-sky terrace garden allows the family to gather on the first floor. As a result, the space provides a balance between exposure and enclosure.

The controlled departure from strict purity in form allows the building to accommodate its anomalies. Moreover, the occasional shade slab that juts out, breaking the character of the subtractive volumes. Additionally, a reduced material palette and the elimination of color in the interiors allow better expression of daylight.

Overall, the house stands as a modest sanctuary for a small family—imposing in its monolithic presence yet serene in its essence. 

Fact File

Designed by: The Design Pursuit

Project Type: Residential Architecture Design

Project Name: The Monolithic House

Location: Vennikulam, Ernakulam, Kerala

Year Built: 2024

Duration of the project: 18 Months

Built-up Area: 2350 Sq.ft

Project Cost: 70 Lakhs

Principal Architect: Ar. Divya Rajesh

Team Design Credits: Ar. Chitra V & Ar. Antony Joseph

Photograph Courtesy: Divya Rajesh

Products / Materials / Vendors: Construction Materials – Concrete block work / Lighting – Luker / Sanitaryware – Jaquar, Hansgrohe / Windows – Tostem Aluminum System Windows / Furniture – Stories, Cedar / Flooring – Nexion Tiles / Kitchen – Stonelam Countertop / Paint – Jotun

Consultants for the Project: Structure Engineers – STUBA / Lighting Designers – Luker / Contractors – STRIDE / Project Managers – Ajith Babu

Firm’s Instagram Link: The Design Pursuit

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