House for Mr. Faiz M Pathan

(SITE)The site for the project comprises of a rectangular plot of an approximately 9m x 18m size. The plot forms part of a housing society (Kajal Park, Sarkhej, Ahmedabad) that comprises of 50 to 60 households. The plot, having roads on two sides, is a corner plot that is exposed to the south-west wind directions. One of the longer sides has a shared wall with the neighbor. The climate of the place is essentially hot-dry climate. The temperatures during the months of summer (March to June) soar as high as 40-45 degree Celsius, while dropping below 10 degree Celsius at times during the months of winter (November to February). The annual rainfall of Ahmedabad is around 935mm. --------------- (CLIENT) Programmatically the house is a very simple structure intended for the architect’s own family. Mr. Faiz M Pathan (architect’s father) heads the joint family of total eight members. The areas on the ground and first floors get utilized as house by the family, while the space in the basement is being used as studio by ‘MohammedAyaz Pathan & Associates’. --------------- (DESIGN) As part of the building regulations, any kind of building on this plot must have one side as shared wall with the neighbor, and leave margins on the rest of the three sides. These kind of requirements, most of the time, result in left over spaces all around the building in the form of margins. The idea at this project was to utilize these spaces by incorporating them in design with the main spaces. These margin spaces have been transformed into verandahs and courts, with the help of semi-permanent enclosures. The main spaces of the house such as drawing room, and living areas open to these courts, lawns, and verandahs. These open and semi-open spaces provide life to the house in the form of natural light and ventilation; at the same time they also act as informal living areas. The house is essentially made of three parallel bays where the main load bearing elements are 9” thk parallel brick walls: the drawing room bay, the living room bay, and the bedroom-kitchen bay. As per the social and cultural demands, women sometime need their own gathering space in the house that is visually screened from the main gathering space (drawing room). The living room serves this requirement and it can also be accessed directly from outside without entering the drawing room. The women guests are mostly entertained in this space. The terrace on the first floor becomes a key space during summer evenings and nights. It provides an ideal sleeping space at summer nights, when the conditions inside the house sometime become unbearable due to the heat gain throughout the day. The house negotiates outside and inside spaces with the help of raised courtyards, verandahs, and white painted walls that provide seamless transition between outside and inside.

Title : Residence for Mr. Faiz M. Pathan
Location : Sarkhej, Ahmedabad, India
Client : Mr. Faiz M. Pathan
Completion : Feb.-2007
Architect : MohammedAyaz Pathan & Associates, Ahmedabad
Design Team: MohammedAyaz Pathan
Built-up Area: 2000 sq ft
Structure : load bearing structure of 3 floors

Consultant/s: Structural – Mr. Rajdev
Contractor/s: Civil - Mr. Wahid Sheikh
Electrical – Mr. Junaid Sheikh
Plumbing – Mr. Shoaib
Finishes – Mr. Satbeer