Lakehouse
Architects: CollectiveProject
CITATION
Perched on a rocky, contoured terrain overlooking a lake, the house is deliberately designed as a steel structure that touches the ground lightly. As an idea, the graphic language of the house contrasts the site formally while complementing the site with its sensitive materiality. From the approach, the house presents itself as an inert, introvert form however, as one enters the space, the cuboids open out to the framed vistas and align themselves to the distant views enabled by the site.
The structure of the house is carefully designed to find critical points of anchorage thereby minimising the damage conventional construction would otherwise inflict on a site of this nature. The rigour of fine detail is not limited to the structure – the architects are able to articulate the granite façade of the building finely and in an extremely tactile surface. The choice of materials and the detail employed for this house ensures that the building is put together through dry, non-intrusive processes. There is a certain quality and sophistication in the construction logic of the building.
In terms of the tectonics, the simple plan is broken into levels to create distinct spaces within. Interlocking volumes create interesting patterns of fenestrations and extend the idea of changing light within the house. The movement through the space creates a slow and sequential unfolding of views connecting the sanctum of the house to the distant landscape in the context of the site.
Contemporary residential architecture in India has moved towards a consumptive and indulgent narrative as projects become more aspirational and have greater access to funds. In this climate of excess, this house makes a case for design that treads lightly and privileges the idea of quality of experience thereby charting out a distinct approach and therefore, the Lakehouse by Collective Project is a Citation in The Merit List.
Images & Drawings: courtesy CollectiveProject