Residence in Corona Village

This holiday home set in picturesque Corona village, has miminum walls; a home without air conditioning and a space without barriers. Everything about this building designed by architect Ini Chatterji challenges convention construction practices. The design approach led to a residence that perches lightly on the land, and restricts the palette of materials to a bare minimum.

A fluid, uninterrupted space, with each wall-less area demarcated more by function than by solid surface, this multi-storeyed house sits under a tiered roof—one level of which serves as a vanguard against lashing rains, and the higher extension absorbs the sound. Accessed via a concrete bridge and hidden behind the mass of trees and greenery heightens the sense of part-tree house part houseboat that pervades the 900-square-metre residence.

The unique design encompasses vision for the client's desire, of a “cascading six-bedroom villa with an outdoor pool”, that took the shape of a house encased within collapsible louvred coconut-wood doors that work as walls, which meant that the entire house can be opened out to the view outside, and the deck-like balcony.