The Gully Home attempts to reimagine sustainable living in the modern context

ED+ Architecture make this Chennai home an embodiment of climatic responsive and functional design principles.

Curated by: Rupali Sebastian
Photographs: BRS Sreenag; courtesy ED+ Architecture

The site

Located on the end of a quiet, residential street in Chennai, overlooking the ocean, the linear 39’ x 93’ plot had its larger side facing the ocean front with a beautiful view of the Bay of Bengal.

The brief

“The design brief was very simple, and hence much more challenging,” Ammaar Aziz Chowdry and Mridula Chowdry, principals of ED+ Architecture, share. “(The house) was gift from a father to his daughter who was to get married, and it would be the starting point of her new journey.” Like every beachfront property, a default requirement was that every part of the house had to have a view of the ocean. The clients were keen that the entire building was entirely self-sustaining and climatically responsive. “While the project site called out for a house that opened and offered itself to the surroundings, we also had to make sure it was swaddled in layers of privacy.”

Response to context

While the east-facing building works well in creating direct views towards the ocean, it also faces the wrath of the hot morning sun, causing immense heat gain. To mitigate this, the entire façade is double-skinned with a layer of porotherm blocks forming the inner core and half cut bricks on either side. To reconcile the requirement of ocean vistas without heat gain (owing to large glazed expanses), the architects designed a window system where each window consisted of an inward-opening glass shutter and an outer aluminium shutter with operable louvres. This configuration facilitated several permutations that enabled the required degrees of privacy and ventilation. The internal walls, too, are a combination of sliced bricks and lime plaster walls continuing the materiality from outside to inside. The flooring is natural polished kota, that reflects heat and remains cool throughout. The bedrooms are finished with terrazzo flooring of different patterns. While the very spirit of The Gully Home is aligned to sustainability, the architects pick the roof as a particular highlight. “The roof usually contributes to the majority of the heat gain. Hence, to minimise this, the slabs are doubly insulated by inserting terracotta pots as fillers that minimise the volume of concrete used in the slabs as well,” they say. “The roof of the terrace is covered by solar panels, and hence the entire house can be operated using only solar energy.”

The spatial flow

The entire house was elevated by 1.5mt with a meandering pedestrian approach through an entry garden that leads the user into the house. The services and utilities like the car parking, helper’s accommodation and battery backup room are placed in a part basement. The entry garden takes the user into a small foyer that opens one into a ‘great’ room that coalesces functions of living, dining and kitchen. “This room is why we call this project The Gully Home,” disclose the architects. “It takes inspiration from a simple vibrant street (gully) of the older parts of the city. The street is where residents assemble, conversations take place, bonds are formed; one hears the sound of laughter, children playing and a whole lot of joy. Similarly, the great room is envisaged as where most of the happy memories of the users are made and is the core of all activities of the house.”

While a conventional residence would involve floor planes stacked across three levels, in this one the floor plates are staggered by five feet on either side of the triple height space, to create views into the great room from the other spaces and facilitate vertical cross-connectivity. The floor plates are linked by an open metal dog-legged staircase, with each flight leading the user into a bedroom. A set of internal bay windows from every bedroom look down into the great room thus making the entire space, visually and physically interconnected. In addition to the internal bay windows, a set of exterior ones project themselves out to get a 180 view of the ocean with a small seat making it a cosy reading/coffee nook. The master bedroom has a set of private stairs that lead to a private terrace sandwiched between the foyer and the swimming pool. The terrace gets a direct view of the ocean on the front, the entry garden on the right and a bay window looking down into the great room on the left, thus truly making it a master space for the couple. The upper most level hosts the lounge room overlooking a swimming pool. The glazing is done in the manner that once opened, the deck becomes a part of the lounge, connecting it directly with the pool. Finally, the topmost level of the house is a terrace sit-out enclosed by brick jaalis that create framed openings towards the ocean.

The material palette

The Gully Home is a one-off project where the architecture completely defines its interiors. With a connection of the inside to the outside, there is no difference between the exterior and interior materials. Sliced brick cladding and lime plastered walls along with exposed concrete structural elements form the major interior materials. The terracotta pots on the ceiling accentuate these materials and add an interesting touch to the space. No false ceiling is used within the house and all the slabs are exposed concrete. The furniture is a combination of wood with fabric and cane to continue the rustic theme within the house. Most of the furniture is custom-made using artisan carpenters and are designed as per specific requirements of the users.

The takeaway

“The entire structure was designed and built in a time frame of five months,” the architect duo enthuses, “and this was spectacular as attaining the quality and finishes in such a short period of time was truly marvellous.”

Fact file

Project: The Gully Home
Location: Chennai
Area: 6,275 sq ft
Principal architects: Ammaar Aziz Chowdry and Mridula Chowdry
Design team: Mano Bharati and Sai Maalavika