UNGANA – merge in Swahili

In metro cities, due to high density and land costs narrow plots are becoming a dialect, Ungana –is one such project located in Chennai on a narrow plot facing the road on north.

The program was to design a maximalist house with material brutality that can integrate the user’s lifestyle with their decor collection; designed for the users, four of them are a well-travelled family with their two children currently living elsewhere have an assortment of antiques and artifacts which needed to be incorporated.

You enter through a double door reimagined for a gate and compound wall creating an unorthodox treatment in the lane and a gabion wall something unseen in this precinct. An existing coconut tree at site was let to be, marking the boundary for the patio and conveniently framing the traditional wooden swing alongside a reclaimed intricately carved teak wood main door. The brownish-grey tone flooring of the patio seamlessly blends the outside to the dark black tandur stone floor inside.to surprise a guest and something coexisting for the user the space was made perceptible from the main door.

The entry foyer is just enough to pass through; stepping into a strategic double height sunken living space, though visually connected to the kitchen/dining this is to create an axis parallel to the cantilevered steps and the exposed brick wall. With a whiff of grandparent’s piano and chronicles of travel shopping and your favorite bookshelf this path is literally for a movement of memoirs amongst many things. The high ceiling and the long French windows on the east combines this open interactive space volumetrically, with natural light spreading across to a hodgepodge of modern furniture and antiques.

Material pallet is kept primarily natural and earthy with wooden furniture and finishes establishing nature oriented approach. The colours of the art and artifacts adorning the concrete or exposed brick wall pop out distinctively complementing with the overall mood. Dining table with high chairs is combined with the kitchen counter to engage conversations over food and wine below the custom made hanging light. Structurally the roof was designed with two upturned beams to have a seamless roof bottom and clean planes from below. The upturned beams eventually form a bridge providing privacy for users walking over also connecting the bedrooms on the floor above breaking it into different levels dynamically highlighting the space.

Victorian inspired cast iron handrail with swirling and curving lines create a sense of flow drawing the eye along the bridge, hidden cove light is given on the wooden support handle on the exterior exposed wall. Roadside children’s bedroom opens inward to the double height living space below through a bay window to establish communication within the house and a wooden louvered corner window with sill seating on the north facing the street for façade treatment and privacy. The master bed is at a lower level formed by the upturned beam demarcating the space functionally.

The facade of the house is an interesting arrangement of bricks to break the monotony and to create a light shadow texture.