Lorence and his family wanted their dream abode at Manarcaud in Kottayam, Kerala to be an eco-friendly structure that doesn’t cause any harm to the surrounding environment. They roped in Urvi Sustainable Spaces, a well-known designing firm that is committed to design and build environment friendly homes.
Interestingly, the stylish house looks like a simple single-story house at a glance. The elevation features the classic flat box style. Meanwhile, the louvers in GI pipes acts as a chic designer element. Pebbles are paved on the front yard to grant a clean look. Moreover, it allows the rain water to easily seep into the ground.
Designed in 1950 sqft, this amazing abode has a sit out, formal and family living areas, dining space, kitchen with an adjacent work area and two bedrooms and a bathroom on the ground floor. Meanwhile, there is one more bedroom, a utility room and an open terrace on the upper floor.
Locally sourced materials have been mostly used for constructing this house. Rammed earth technology has been used to build the walls. Interestingly, the sand from the plot itself has been utilized for that. In this technique, sand is stuffed into specially designed shutters to build the walls.
Meanwhile, the roofing works are done in the filler slab technique. This helped in limiting the use of cement and iron rods. Moreover, this regulates the heat inside the house making the spaces extremely pleasant and comfortable.
The areas that are prone to get exposed to moisture are built using laterite stones. Meanwhile, the upper floor is entirely built using porotherm blocks. As these blocks are hollow, they help in lowering the heat inside the house.
There is a spacious hall in the centre that has a skylight roof. The interiors are well lit in natural light that enters through this sky light.
Natural wood has been mostly used for furnishing. This was sourced from the jackfruit tree in the plot. However, the family made sure that new trees were planted in the plot to compensate for this.
Wooden panelling has been done on the concrete staircase. Meanwhile, the kitchen cabinets and the wardrobes in the bedrooms are made in solid timber.
The family is delighted that their dream to build an eco-friendly house has been fulfilled.
Project Facts
Location – Manarcaud, Kottayam
Area – 1950 SFT
Owner – Lorence Mathew
Design – Urvi Sustainable Spaces, Trivandrum
Year of completion - 2023
