ULLI HOUSE
Residence remodeling
Auroville, Tamil Nadu
2013

Originally built in 1978 for an electronic engineer, this house was completed at a time when there were few trees on the sun parched parcel of land. Over the years, as the requirements changed, the house went through several ad hoc additions. In 2011 the request was brought to us to demolish the house and build a larger home in its place to accommodate requirements which had further changed – for the same residents. The quality of the build being excellent and the house having a ‘soft value’ due to it being built at the very beginning of Auroville, we felt that we’d be able to do justice to it with a complete remodeling of the interior spaces.

The new space was to accommodate a home office, home theatre, larger kitchen and bath with a walk in closet along with a bedroom and a living dining space.

A staircase was carved out, connecting the first floor bedroom and the ground floor living spaces, within the area which earlier accommodated the washroom. Keeping the triangular feature walls on the exterior and all the columns, most other walls were demolished to re arrange spaces and add an extra room for the home theatre.

Though the finishes of the house are kept simple, the thought to detail and quality of work comes through in the finished house which showcases crisp lines and open planning.

A simple passive rain water harvesting system was put in place within the landscape with swales and percolation areas. The gardens got a facelift with simple ground covers so as to showcase existing old trees. Irrigation of all the surrounding grounds is done by recycled water that is generated by the anaerobic waste water recycling system built for the house.