KAKARLA RESIDENCE
KOLATHUR, CHENNAI
4500 SQ FT
2021
RESIDENCE ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR
As sunlight filters through jaali walls and skylights, a concert of light, wood and traditional patterns resonate across this family home in Chennai. Sprawled across four levels, the Kakarla residence translates the essential principles of vastu into well articulated volumes. Contemporary spaces are juxtaposed with vernacular artworks, portraying the client’s cultural roots. Sustainable materials and construction techniques, smart home technologies and a well ventilated design leads to an energy efficient home. Vibrant living areas overlook a beautiful park that summons nature inside the house. A public staircase lifts one up to the living room through an open verandah or a thinnai (traditional Tamil raised veranda entrance), a reminder of ancestral homes. A separate private staircase and elevator runs through the four floors for its multi-generation users. Entering the house, a double-height light-well highlights the living space, creating an open dialogue between the lower public and upper private floors. One is instantly drawn to its main wall, which is a backdrop for traditional blue-and-yellow custom plaster mosaics. Subtle yet elegant, the square patterns evoke south Indian motifs and colours. These motifs are further translated into the devotional room full of bespoke brass and teakwood craftworks made by local artists.