House That!!

Homing In with
                _____________ LETHA JOSE

When you walk into this penthouse, you are not just entering a beautiful house, you are also gaining admission to the home of an apparently happy-go-lucky young couple, Hiren and Dina Patel, which they share with their two lively kids. The first thing which strikes you as you enter is the extensive use of glass throughout the apartment. In fact, glass has replaced the customary concrete walls on two sides. And balconies with overhangs have ensured that the use of glass does not affect thermal insulation.

As you sit and look around, another thing strikes you. This penthouse, occupied by an architect who almost always constructs his buildings according to Vaastu, has everything going against this ancient science. Master bedroom in the south-east, kitchen in the south-west! Ask him about this and he says,‘‘This was not meant to be rebel statement or anything. It was just that the apartment which we liked was totally against Vaastu. And since both my wife Dina and I were not unduly worried about this anti-Vaastu aspect, we decided to go ahead and purchase it.’’ Dina, a dentist by profession, almost immediately chips in: ‘‘In fact I thought it may be better because they say the person who spends more time in the south-west becomes the most powerful in the house. Since the kitchen is in the south-west I thought it would be good for me. But nothing has changed,’’ she says almost ruefully. But Hiren says the reason for this is probably that, ‘‘I too spend a lot of time in the kitchen.’’

From an open kitchen to a beautiful terrace garden on the upper level, the couple has personal touch stamped everywhere. Hiren says this wasn’t the case when they bought the apartment. ‘‘It has been replanned according to our needs,’’ he says. Since Dina wanted a kitchen that would not cut her off from the rest of the family and guests, Hiren decided to bring down the wall between the drawing room and the kitchen. He then proceeded to push in the walls of the kids’ room. ‘‘Though this has made the room smaller by about three feet, apart from giving a feeling of depth, it created space for a built-in crockery cabinet on the outer side and a bunker bed for the kids in the inside.’’

The simple lines have been given a dramatic effect with a smart play of an interesting combination of colours and textures. So, in the drawing room you have one wall which has been painted over the putty using the sponging technique, though here the architect chose to use a jute ball as against the conventional sponge to achieve stunning effects. Exposed concrete with a mural by the famous Ahmedabad artist Sharad Patel has been used for creating another wall in the drawing room. This wall hides a wood and ceramic staircase behind.

The staircase leads you to what Hiren calls the ‘‘friends’ corner’’, the place where the family entertains friends. This large expanse of a room built at two levels, opens out to a beautiful terrace garden and has floor-level seating mainly using rugs and cushions.

Just as interesting as the interplay of various colours and textures for the walls is the way the flooring has been done. Material ranging from wood to marble and ceramic has been used to create an interesting composition, even on the floors. In the master bedroom too, glass has replaced concrete walls on two sides. ‘‘This gives us a beautiful view of the sunrise from our bed every morning,’’ says Hiren. Hiren has incorporated skylights wherever natural light through windows was not possible. Thanks to this, there is no area in the house, including the bathrooms, which requires artificial lighting during the day. Balconies take up a large part of this 3,200 square feet duplex apartment.

These spacious balconies outside all the rooms with large glass windows give a feeling of freedom and openness — a feeling that you are almost up in the sky along with the clouds — as this penthouse towers above all the surrounding buildings ensuring a panoramic view.

Hiren says he was particular about using material which are economical, yet visually appealing. And one must say he has succeeded in that, for, while designing his own house, he has proved that more than the use of expensive material, what finally makes a house a home is one’s own imagination.

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