House N

Overview

Breaking the norms of the typical design psychology, this house challenges all the traditional and locally made houses in the region. The plan includes 90° along with an interesting blend of 30° angles, with open and shared spaces. The open planning allows healthy family environment where each member can feel connected and get involved more. Connections are kept open to provide fluidity in spaces and maximum interaction.

It would be nice to have a shelter that closed to the elements and feels like a vacation house every day; that's the purpose, to bring those liberating feeling to the design. The atmosphere of the house has an intention of provoking warmness, and so the materiality has been used as the main conductor of this feeling. Low maintenance materials are used such as concrete and textured tiles, which are essential to the execution of the concept and match well with the lighting, structure and simplicity of the interior design. Boxed?shape with flat roof keeps a simple look yet modernist look for the house with a textured wall, wooden stairs, black steel railings, fair-faced concrete, white painted feature columns and eccentric hangings accentuating each landing of the slender staircases and for the color theme to make it more ornately minimalistic with a modernist palette. The earthy colors produce the sensation of placement and enrich the atmosphere and make the house more enjoyable.

To provide a sequence for the living inside and also for guests, starting from the veranda/porch as the entrance alongside the public guest area, there is a courtyard garden as an inviting entrance, which also acts as a barrier to keep privacy for the private area. Dining room and kitchen form a continuous space. Upstairs comes the lounge and then mid-level above is the living room. In this movement, the lounge gains a double height and maintains a direct relationship with the upper levels of the house. Wooden stairs connect the first story to the upper level of the house, which contains the bedrooms for the owner. Interior and exterior spaces are connected by openings that have a direct view. Throughout the house, a mix of interesting connections have been provided in form of terraces and platforms which allow the owners to communicate within the house effectively. Band windows have been provided to frame views of the east side, and the lounge is kept comparatively a little darker to avoid any unnecessary solar glares. The use of glass as a partition makes this areas seem to blend in. The entire roof is lined with solar chips for thermal insulation.

Client name: Mrs Nasreen Akhtar
Project type: Residential
Plot Size: 355.55 syrds/ 40' x 80'/ 3200sft /14 Marlas
Project Duration: 2015-2018
Project Covered Area: 5558 sft
Designed By: Farooq & Associates
Structure By: Eng Sajid Hussain
Architectural Photographer: Danish Ansari
Text By: Mavara Ahmad
Location: Block A, Zaraj Housing Scheme, Islamabad.