Sapre residence

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

Project details

• Project Name: Sapre Residence
• Client: Shirish & Susmita Sapre
• Project Type: Bungalow
• Principal Designer/s: Shirish Beri
• Design Team: Milind Ranadive
• Contractor/s: Atul Pawar, Kolhapur (main civil)
• Year of commencement of project: 2003
• Year of completion of project: 2004
• Location of site: Kolhapur, India
• Site Area: 500 sq. m
• Built-up Area: 290 sq.m
• Cost of Construction/Execution: INR 2.6 Million (civil)

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

Susmita & Shirish Sapre, a lively couple with a teenage daughter are very much fond of socializing and partying (especially with Susmita being very fond of cooking). They approached architect Shirish Beri to design this house that was special, that which would be attractive as well as friendly to their extended family of friends on a typical housing society plot of 15m x 30m.

Being very busy with a number of large projects, Shirish was a bit hesitant in taking up this design work right away. But the Sapre family showed great patience and agreed to wait for almost an year. Moved by their keen interest in his designs, Shirish Beri finally started designing this house...

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

A house that would: bring their family as well as friends closer to each other; have a distinct personality amidst the faceless and sometimes cluttered suburban house facades; and finally a house that would become an expression of the "Joy of Living".

According to the architect, this connectivity with life could best be expressed by a form that organically grew out of the green soil.

Thus, a geomorphic form was chosen for this house, which would also... give the house a distinct playful, organic quality and personality; accommodate the existing trees in the landscaped mound; create privacy from the road for the ground floor activities; act as insulation to the ground floor to keep it cool in summer and warm in winter; give direct ground landscaping connectivity to the first floor also; break down the house scale to make it more humane.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

While moving on this road in a typical residential area with bungalows, this house distinctively displays its warm, nature friendly, welcoming personality. The almost mono color house stands out as well as merges with the bright green slope of the lawn. The existing trees on the site have been retained to become a beautiful integral part of the design.

Externally one sees the strong flowing form of a single wall that kind of protects, sheaths the entire house. The entrance puncture happens in this wall, though which one first sees the living sit out space with the pergola above and then walks into the verandah. The Gokak stone retaining wall, the play of pergola shadows and the emerging plants give this sit out a special ambience and scale. The verandah has some built in seating to act as a pause for guests to linger before entering the house or before leaving it.

Once we enter the house, almost the whole house (including part of the first floor, but excluding the bedrooms) kind of welcomes us in.

The space inside the house is kept very open and fluid encouraging all kinds of interaction - visual, vocal and physical between various functional spaces.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

The heart of the house is the landscaped central, sky lit courtyard with a frangipani tree and a big mural suggested by the interior designer. The view of the coconut tree through the skylight, the landscaping on the floor and the light streaming in give a new dimension to this space.

This double height space visually connects the various functions happening around it on both the floors. The upper level study and the family space overlook onto this courtyard. The courtyard not only brings in nature and light but also helps in bringing the family members closer to each other.

The main family activities such as socializing, eating, drinking, cooking, watching T.V (movies), reading etc. are not segregated and isolated but they flow into each other in a seamless manner.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

This transparency of space inside the house helps in bringing people closer and facilitates good cross ventilation.

The main living space extends out under the pergola on one side and the central landscaped court on the other side. Similarly the dining area visually extends onto the side margin sit out and the central courtyard. The family pad also visually connects to the first floor terrace as well as the good old central courtyard.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associa