Nisarga Art Hub is a residential and community project for a family of musicians. Designed by architect Vinu Daniel and his team at Wallmakers, the 2557 square feet home in Ernakulam, Kerala, India, is also a residency that provides a site for the community to congregate in for art and cultural events.

Daniel, an Indian architect and the founder of Indian architecture firm Wallmakers, explains the concept of this home to STIR, "The concept of the Nisarga residence was to create a dynamic art hub. The hub’s private residential spaces were to be visually cohesive with the public space but functionally separate. The core idea revolved around imbuing the essence of music, to keep the interior design silent and contemplative. The spaces, including the public roof, were envisioned as a space for reflection, where the clients could be immersed in music.”

As mentioned, a tucked-away private entry to the main house from the rear ensures that the activities of the music hub and the private residence are distinct. While open-air concerts are carried on at the family pool, the sloping roof of the main structure doubles as its seating. The quiet entrance enables the family to live undisturbed below. A large living space overlooks the field through an expanse of clear glass. The living area is a sample of what’s to come, as all of this home’s interior spaces are conceived as open flexible expanses, to be used at the client’s discretion. The occupants mostly use the wooden floors for interacting with visitors and dining, as the clients also advocated the benefits of the Padmasana position (Sitting Lotus Pose). The singular texture of the debris blocks, left exposed throughout serves to visually expand the already magnanimous volume of the home. Two bedrooms are situated at the ground level, as well as a kitchen and work area. A nimble single flight of stairs leads upstairs, where a bedroom supports a discreetly cantilevered recording studio. The home boasts sharp corners, a large number utilised in clever ways.

The home is a delicate balance of traditional and modern, private and public aspects. When asked about this, Daniel clarifies, “When too many elements come into play, it’s very difficult to bring balance. Hence, from the start, our focus is to bring in a sort of cohesive design narrative that blends the diverse aspects of tradition and modernity. The overall residential design attempts to retain a connection to traditional elements such as the Kerala roof and the muttam (verandah) but also ensures that these elements have been studied, broken down and then redesigned to suit contemporary requirements. This interplay creates a different dynamic, rooted in tradition but accommodating a contemporary lifestyle.”

With the entire structure being housed under a single, sloping roof, the roof itself is a masterpiece of construction and ideology. The roof needed to stand out from its neighbours, all homes reflecting their heritage with the typical “Kerala roofs”. Even though these traditional roofs are known for being ideal insulators and temperature regulators, it’s a waning feature in contemporary architecture today. Much of this has to do with the style not bringing in ample sunlight and other aesthetic reasons. Simple observation and the push to extend the envelope led to the development of this complex arrangement. With skylights seamlessly incorporated into its underbelly, the roof retains the look of the traditional roofs around it from an exterior perspective.

The strategically designed breaks in the roof allow light to stream in, diffused by jute sack rolls, that also permit hot air to escape. The 35 degree angle of the roof was consequently a perfect match to the required 30 degree angle of an open-air amphitheatre. Thus, the idea for the same skylights to become seating spaces for an audience of 75-80 people was born. The seating would look down into the swimming pool, where a series of wooden members set on it immediately transforms it into an acoustic stage for open-air concerts.

Internally, the walls are built with Wallmakers' patented Shuttered Debris Wall Technique. The technique involves a mixture of waste materials, debris collected from the neighbouring town, cement, and soil from the site, resulting in a low-cost and effective building solution. The structure is entirely load-bearing, supporting even a recording studio on the first floor, cantilevered out by four meters. As the architect elaborates, "At Wallmakers, we always look at a site and derive the design for all our projects. The building technique and architectural form collaborate seamlessly in our design approach, wherein we consider the specific attributes of the site and incorporate materials and methods that minimise environmental impact.”

Numerous sustainable elements work together to allow the built environment to resonate with its lush landscape setting. The west-facing side of the hub, where the guest rooms are located, is protected from the harsh sun with discarded racks collected from a scrapyard. These were stacked to become grills that also allowed for a curtain of creepers to grow on it, shielding the interiors from the afternoon sun. Reclaimed laterite blocks from demolished buildings form the stepped verandah in front of the home’s private entrance, reminiscent of the old muttams of traditional homes in Kerala.

The building is designed like music, where the pauses between the notes are more important than the notes themselves. Architect Vinu Daniel plays the role of composer here, and his perfection has been unrivalled. It is work like this that his firm specialises in. He summarises the essence of the home saying, “When the client approached us with the idea of a home that also acts as an art hub, it brought us joy, as it allowed us to transcend the traditional boundaries of a 'residence.' The opportunity to design a space for both the community and a family was not only in line with Wallmakers’ philosophy but also expanded upon it in a significant and truly rewarding way.”

Project Details

Name: Nisarga Art Hub
Location: Ernakulam, Kerala, India
Gross Built Area (m2/ ft2): 2557 ft2
Program / Use / Building Function: Residence
Lead Architects: Vinu Daniel, Oshin Mariam Varughese
Junior Architects: Subhrodipta Ghosh, Rosh V. Saji