This Family Home In Ahmedabad Transforms Into A Sunlit Oasis
31Jul'23
5:15 pmbySakshi Lakhotia
Imagine walking out of an uncluttered bedroom into an airy gallery overlooking a double-height dining area. A bird’s eye view from this bridge presents an entire wall flanked by faceted windows, a contemporary chandelier, and a sleek dinner table. This is the inside of the sunkissed House of Dynamic Sunlights, a 4700-square-foot haven designed by Hiloni Sutaria of HSC Designs, in the posh suburbs of Ahmedabad. The family of four residing in this home each gets their own privacy and the luxury of coming together in comfortingly interactive spaces.
A landscaped garden demarcating the modest expanse of this plot from the bustling outside has, on the other side, a slightly raised Kota stone-paved porch. “As this house is situated in a low-lying area, the elevated entrance keeps it from flooding in the monsoons,” says Hiloni, who shares that the semi-roofed entry into the home doubles up as a sit-out space for morning tea or yoga sessions. The larger facade exposes a three-storey composition of grey lime plaster, terracotta tiles, and double-glazed glass. She adds, “To justify the locally-sourced and suited materials, each material has been selected to serve a bigger purpose and that is to keep the house insulated from the unbearably fierce Ahmedabad heat.”
Clean lines, balance, and harmony: these are the descriptors Hiloni alludes to as having synthesised into this suburban yet eccentric residence. A teakwood threshold guides visitors into the heart of the home; a courtyard-style living area where the family becomes one. The sunbeams dancing across the space at different hours of the day assert the illusion of spaciousness. “In the design development phase of this project the sun patterns and climatic data were studied to ensure that every corner of this transitional home is washed with natural light at different hours of the day,” states Hiloni.
When the family envisioned their dream house, two features about this residence became apparent: it should be built to maximise natural light and minimise heat retention. So the natural progression was to have illumination as the focal point of this residential project. “While designing the house around this concept, we did radiational and sun pattern stimulations to ensure that sunlight strikes a given space when it is used according to the family’s routine,” the designer explains. In a well-lit and ventilated ambience, there sits a sleek dining table from Britto Furniture with a statement chandelier from Bella Casa Lights hanging right above it.
In this radiant residence in Ahmedabad where natural light is an omnidirectional wonder, there is a transitional gathering spot for the family on the ground floor, semi-private areas, and private rooms spread across all three levels. “The size of this plot allowed for a single bay planning. This meant that we had to be strategic about the arrangement of the four bedrooms,” says Hiloni, establishing that there is ample buffer space between all the rooms despite the very limitation of space.
The first floor opens up to two homely bedrooms—the master and the daughters—both sharing a spectacular view of the foliage outside and overwhelming amounts of natural light inside. As a minimally-designed space, there is little to no clutter around the teakwood-chiselled bed, side table, and lounging spaces in both rooms. As with all bedrooms, including a guest room on the ground floor, there is a recurrent back-lit console, designed in-house by HSC Designs, hanging as a work of art above the bed, each evoking a variable mood while exuding the persona of the member occupying the space, with a custom rug from Square Knots on the bedrooms’ Kota stone flooring.
One of the bedrooms, which is on the second floor, has a striking bathroom outlined in shades of red with tiling Graffiti Tiles as well as a spacious section in the room showcasing two plush slipper lounge chairs resting on a customised rug from Square Knots. Owing to the floor-to-ceiling double-glazed windows, this space is perpetually submerged in the pacifying rays of the sun. A panoramic view of the vibrant outer world is neutralised by the spiritual warmth of the occupants of this home.