A Dialogue with the Past House / A Threshold

Architects:A Threshold

Area:2250ft²

Year:2024

Photographs:Atik Bheda

Structural Consultants:Rays Consulting Engineers

Architects:Avinash Ankalge, Harshith Nayak

Structural Consultant:C. Ramkumar

Civil Contractor:Ashok Yengure

City:Akkalkot

Country:India

Text description provided by the architects. Akkalkot, a town in the Solapur district of Maharashtra, is characterized by its dense urban neighborhoods. The residence sits on a compact 825-square-foot plot, measuring just 25 feet by 33 feet. These neighborhoods feature traditional vernacular houses built using exposed black basalt stone and bricks. These homes often incorporate central open-to-sky courtyards and thick common walls that provide insulation from the harsh climate. Our design draws direct inspiration from this local architectural vernacular.

This house, situated within its traditional historical context, reconnects the client with cherished memories from their childhood and fulfills their present-day needs. Clients desired to recreate the experience and memories of their old, traditional open-air courtyard house. They wanted the common areas like seating, eating, and cooking to have fewer walls and open directly onto the courtyards. This would allow everyday family activities, social interactions, and gatherings to occur in the open-air setting. The context of the house is in an older neighborhood, which means the clients' many relatives and friends who live nearby could be easily entertained in this home.

The building seamlessly integrates into Akkalkot's historic old town. Given the harsh summers reaching 45-47°C, we incorporated climate-responsive techniques. Perforated brick screens and planter buffers wrap the house, mitigating intense heat and blocking direct sunlight from the main areas. The house's materiality and contextual design seamlessly integrate with the neighboring historic structures. Access is limited to a narrow pedestrian path, enhancing the home's harmonious blend with its surroundings. Our design approach aims to respectfully and sensitively respond to the strong contextual character of the immediate environment.

The living, dining, and kitchen are more open, facing the landscaped courtyard covered with skylight, which draws the natural light throughout the house because of the dense neighborhood surroundings. The open living, dining, and kitchen areas face the landscaped courtyard covered by a skylight. This allows natural light to permeate the house, compensating for the dense surrounding neighborhood. The sleek, teak-clad metal staircase connects the house to the first floor, which contains two bedrooms - one to the southeast and one to the southwest. Both bedrooms face south, with a perforated brick screen and landscaping as a buffer from the harsh southern sun while also providing privacy from the neighboring houses nearby.

The exposed brick perforated screen creates a unique, green façade that is a climate-responsive, functional design solution for the harsh regional climate. This breathable façade attracts birds, squirrels, butterflies, and other wildlife, adding visual interest and character from the outside. A spiral staircase rises from a small family area, connecting it to a second-floor garden and a master bedroom. The master bedroom features a small, clerestory roof that draws natural light from all four sides, creating a shaft for air to circulate.

The bedrooms feature floor-to-ceiling louvered teak wood shuttered windows and doors that visually connect them to the internal courtyards. These operable louvered shutters draw cool breezes from the courtyards into the bedrooms, increasing cross-ventilation throughout the house and keeping the internal microclimate cool. Additionally, the teak finish adds warmth to the overall house design. The material palette is intentionally minimal, featuring salvaged and refurbished teak-finished windows from the client's previous home, mirror-finished Kota stone flooring, exposed concrete ceilings, and an exposed brick perforated screen along the sides.

The exposed brick-perforated screen, featuring built-in planters, serves as a buffer against the harsh southern sun. This multifunctional design helps maintain a cool microclimate within the home throughout the year. The design reflects the client's nostalgic childhood memories by reusing black basalt stone from the client's former home and incorporating exposed brick walls and screens. This materiality also blends seamlessly with the neighboring vernacular architecture, paying homage to the past.

Below are a few advantages of this brick screen:

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