DEOLALI HOUSE

The project expressed as a s ingle l ine that underscores the kavad dhahra reservoir.

Country l iv ing has caught on in c i t ies wi th manic l ives l ike Bombay. SPASM was chosen to bui ld one such second home on a remote s i te set in a pr is t ine, undulat ing terrain in Deolal i , Maharashtra. We had a rather daunt ing task. The budget needed to be t ight to assure other buyers that a l i fes ty le in unison wi th the surrounds could be l ived af fordably.

Deolal i

deolal i house2014

The s i te se lect ion took 8 months and several walks over many many t r ips. An except ional ly beaut i fu l acreage of rol l ing undulated landscape, on the edge of a pr is t ine reservoir, wi th an expansive sky and surrounded by several p ic turesque hi l l s . Dis f igur ing the land was not an opt ion, or a precedent we wanted to set . Most of the s i te being a gent ly s loping rock al lowed for an economical foundat ion s t rategy.vv

1 Entrance2 L iv ing3 Courtyard4 Verandah/Open Dining5 Ensui te Bedroom6 Ki tchen7 Car Park ing8 Pebbled Arr ival Court9 Car Drop-of f

The act of arr ival i s heightened by the top entry where the reservoir v iew is served upon the large f la t usable roof. . . The topography gave the cues on s i t ing the house. As one walks down the entry s ta i r the house ref rames the v iews by breaking them down into precious f reeze- f rames.

A f la t body for the house was also re levant , to capture the expansive, a lmost c inemascope panoramas.

Being remote, the approach to use pre -cut metal components made sense, A low tech l i fe - s ty le was deemed appropr iate as breakdowns in e lect r ic i ty supply, lack of maintenance help in the region are issues.

Taking in the sky and i t s var ied hues, as the lakes sur face and the movement of the sun creates magical atmospheres every hour. . . . .

The res t fe l l in place seeking cross vent i la t ion, gravi ta t ional water supply, wear worthy mater ia ls , and celebrat ion of the colours of the natural landscape.

D e o l a l i H o u s e

Locat ion

Project Team

P lot Area

Bui l t-up area

Contractors

Engineers

Photo credi ts

Const ruct ion Per iod

- Deolal i , Maharashtra, India

- Sangeeta Merchant, Mansoor Kudalkar, Gaur i Satam, Divyesh Kargathra, Denver Per iara, Sanjeev Panjabi

- 2.9 acres

- 4886 sq feet

- Narendra Pise

- Rajeev Shah & Associates (s t ructural )

- Photographix - Sebast ian Zachar iah and I ra Gosal ia

- May 2012 - May 2014