Project Category: HOSPITALITY-Weekend Office
Client:CONOLLY GROUP Area: 1000 Sq.Ft.
Site:Kakkadampoyil, Calicut, India.
Plot Area: 10 Cents.
Project Year 2020: Completed
Conolly’s Nirvana is a residence with an office, located deep among the thick vegetative cover of (PLACE). A perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of our chaotic everyday routines, this address, advertising the tagline, “The Nest of Happiness”, is truly a surreal world created in the lap of nature. The client, a renowned businessman, wanted a home away from home where he could relax and unwind with his family of four, while also catering to his professional lifestyle, by setting up an office additionally.
The main concept used evidently throughout is an attempted homogeneity with nature. The blending has been so achieved by creating low height structures that aren’t taller than the natural canopy, using earth tones of whites, blacks, and browns with recurring greens to imitate the immediate context. Even within each block, be it the guest rooms or the office areas, the main process of separating the inside from the outside, thereby creating spaces, has not been done conventionally using solid walls but rather, with other innovative alternatives such as glass, iron rails, green cover and partition walls.
The principle idea behind pursuing a design which blended harmoniously in this heavily contoured site with large boulders and old existing trees was to conserve the natural ecosystem of the area while also bettering it. The placement of blocks, orientation of buildings and location of fenestrations within the built environment are all done, keeping in mind the site conditions. The location of a river in the vicinity provides for excellent air circulation with a constant pleasant breeze in the area, eliminating the need for mechanical cooling systems. Other site conditions which were also studied by the project team by constantly executing at site rather than digitally deductions.
This sheds further light on our process here at Tropical Architecture Bureau, where a good dialogue is facilitated between the designer and the site, which is to become his/her canvas. Spending a sufficient amount of time on site ensures we pay heed to the requirements of the site and let the most ideal design, specific to the site, evolve with the discovery of site conditions rather than vice-versa. This also leaves little room for error and unforeseen circumstances during the design execution stage.
Using our ideologies and the natural beauty that we were presented with at site, we were able to successfully create a serene nook, which was well received by the client to the extent where they expressed their wish to never leave the home, as it was so well-catered and idealistic for their needs, wants and wishes.
