Four Boxes – The Black Sheep Farm

Description - Residential
Status – On going
Area – 3500 sqft
Scope – Architecture + Interior
Location – Udupi , Mangalore

A house is not just a building intended to provide shelter, but it is a blend of the users, their personality and their cultural roots. The concept for Four Boxes House emerged from the NRI client’s desire to build an abode anchored to their hometown, sustaining local values with a modern approach.

The rectangular plot of 4000 sq.ft. is encircled by close-knit structures and lined by a hustling road. Aimed at preserving the privacy of patrons and building a sense of openness, a central courtyard with inward-facing spaces was envisioned. An arrangement of blocks harboring varied functions and distinct heights are envisaged around the courtyard. Mimicking the roof structure of a village, a series of sloping roofs enclose the structure and yield a traditional appeal. Each of these multi-levelled blocks with singular sloping roofs are aligned to compliment each other and design a hierarchy of roofs to replicate a hamlet.

The four blocks are integrated with two bedrooms, a living area and a staircase. Redefining closed spaces, the house is planned by replacing a few walls with inward-looking sliding folding doors that blur the boundary between the inside and outside zones. The open plan for the kitchen and dining area are laid around the three blocks and the courtyard, connected by a spectrum of semi-open corridors. With a large plumeria tree defining the arrangement of functions, the courtyard becomes the source of calm and illumination.

The blocks are fabricated by exposed brick walls and concrete is used for sloping roofs. The four volumes are bound by a flat metal roof to define the circulation around the blocks. The circulation space under the roof is secured by a sliding grill, to open these spaces into the courtyard when required. This flat cover projects beyond the structures, outwards toward the boundary wall and breeds a sense of a floating element. The use of large birds of paradise plants behind the granite clad boundary wall accentuates the privacy and the floating cover. The use of earthy materials in their natural form, along with the courtyard merges the indoor and outdoors and molds these turfs into a seamless space.

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