7 Courtyards, Baroda

House of 7 courtyards
Location – Baroda
Studio name – Language.Architecture.Body (LABwerk)
Contractor – Ray Construction company (Jitendra Ray , Radhesh Ray)
Structural design – Girish Wadhwa
Landscape Design – Studio DesignSeed (Apeksha Ray)
Client – Anand and Shalini Raghavan
Status – Completed
Built-up Area – 5000 sq.ft
Category – Residential Architecture
Photography credits – Kuber Shah
Collaborated with Hunnarshala for Rammed earth construction

Seeded from the idea of designing a ‘Luxurious Ashram’, meant an investigation into the meaning of ‘luxury’ and the act of an ‘ashram’.  Creating without quest a unique and transformative living experience. This is a home to walk barefoot in; from floor to earth to floor. The single-level structure is deeply rooted to the ground. Extending the narrative of the ground into the walls, made from rammed earth. The soil for the walls was collected on the journey from Bhuj to Baroda, the very route taken by the artisans to the site. Place and journey became the unseen architects of these walls. 

Entering the home through a fragrant flower court that punctures the massive terra mud plaster walls, is a distinct threshold. A succession of volumes and voids carefully positioned along the 70-meter-long central spine, suggest a home that is as much garden, as it is home. This home with 7 courtyards and 2 gardens, is shaped as much by its voids as its volumes. 

One of the design challenges of the home, was for it to be intimate for the 2 permanent inhabitants and welcoming to the other 4 that would arrive on occasion. A series of smaller fragmented spaces helped resolve this design dilemma. A multi- generational home, that brings together lives ranging from a 75 year old Sitar playing healer, to a 16 year old  trumpet playing student. The typology of spaces challenges those of traditional homes. 

Rethinking the conventional living room, by redefining social spaces. We create intimate flexible spaces that can be used by both individuals and small groups. It introduces the concept of the ‘Great room’. The Great room is a versatile space sometimes a library, often a writing area and occasionally a conversation lounge; fostering intellectual and interpersonal connections. It is surrounded by 2 courtyards. The garden pavilion is an inversion of the conventional courtyard, a vaulted roof pavilion open to the verdant green surrounding. Each of the 7 courtyards hold distinct character and energy. Some courtyard are solitary and private, while others bring together the energy confluences of the house. This multitude of spaces celebrates multi-generational living.

Material of the house like exposed concrete, rammed earth and mud plaster are inherently honest and authentic; serving as the building blocks of both structure and intention. 

Collaborating with the artisans from Hunnarshala, layered rammed earth walls were crafted in situ. Externally, the earth walls unify this fragmented structure. Internally each space has its own expression of colour and character, reflective of its inhabitant and use. 

The essence of this home is the conversation between inside and outside, self and collective.