Can brutalism evolve to feel inseparable from nature? Studio Saransh has approached this inquiry in realising the MS House, a private residence whose structure and layout are entirely defined by nine mature neem trees thriving on its plot. From the outset, the brief was clear: the trees would remain and the house would take shape around them—a principle that set the foundation for every architectural and interior decision, carried through the design ideation to final construction of the project.

Located in a quiet residential neighbourhood of Ahmedabad, India, the home presents a brutalist form, textured and softened by its landscape. Cast in wooden-strip concrete that captures the tactile grain of bark, the building appears both sculpted and cocooned in greenery. Square punctures and deep chamfered openings animate the facade, filtering daylight into the interiors while intertwining enclosure and foliage. The client—an Indian family seeking a contemporary yet grounded home—sought spaces that breathe in light and breeze and a home that preserves the natural integrity of the place it sits in.

Rather than applying a predetermined visual language to the brief, principal architect and founder Malay Doshi and interior designer Kaveesha Shah of Studio Saransh, allowed the site conditions to guide form and experience—an approach vividly echoing in the MS House, where concrete and canopy are in constant dialogue.

The trees make their presense known at the edge of the property. Rather than cutting through trunks, the boundary walls of the home bend to let them stand. At the entrance, a low branch arcs toward the lobby, making entry an encounter with nature. Inside, a long concrete corridor punctured with square openings filters natural light and frames fragments of encircling foliage. Raw in finish yet animated by light and shadow, this passage establishes the home’s rhythm where nature is not a background but the co-author of its architecture.

At the centre of the residential design lies a defining spatial element: a double-height bay anchored by a neem tree. It is both a gathering place and a visual fulcrum, shading daily tea and meals beneath its canopy. As Doshi remarks in the press release, the central bay "is more than just a design element; it is the soul of the house.” The path connects two distinct wings—one leading to the verandah, living room and garden, and the other accommodating the kitchen, guest bedroom and ancillary spaces. Rather than following a rigid symmetry, the spatial arrangement responds to the placement of the trees on site and the family’s patterns of spatial use, allowing movement to flow naturally between indoor and outdoor areas. The central volume also establishes the home’s vertical connection, extending upward to form a study that overlooks the dining area below—a gesture that reinforces continuity between spaces and maintains a visual link to the landscape beyond.  

This vertical bay extends upward, linking the floors above. On the first floor, it opens into a study that overlooks the dining below, reinforcing continuity between spaces. Each private room, however, frames its relationship with the outdoors. The master bedroom stretches onto a shaded balcony embedded in the neem canopy, a design intervention that turns the space into a retreat among branches. Other bedrooms, located toward the quieter rear wing, look out onto the backyard while carrying distinct palettes. The second floor—marked by a breezy social space nestled above the tree line—gives way to a terrace with a family lounge, bar and powder room.

The landscape design is integral to the home’s overall concept. Beyond the preserved neem trees, layers of tropical and local species enrich the site. Near the entrance, a shallow water feature introduces movement and sound where its surface catches fragments of light and foliage, while the quiet ripple lends calmness to the entrance sequence. Along the terraces, creepers are planted to trail over the parapets, allowing greenery to gradually take over the edges of concrete. Over time, as plants mature and textures weather, the house is meant to evolve with its surroundings like a structure that lives and grows in rhythm with its landscape.

Inside, the material palette remains restrained with the use of lime plaster walls, ply-cast concrete and grey Kota stone. Flooring changes finish according to function, where leathered surfaces in the central bay continue the outdoor plank pattern, while polished stone maintains continuity elsewhere. Against this quiet base, furniture and details emerge with clarity. The dining area is centred on a custom wooden table with rosewood detailing, its geometry echoing the linearity of stone and concrete. Chairs in teak and wicker and a suspension lamp designed with Andlabs, an Ahmedabad-based product and lighting design studio, add warmth to the cool tonality of concrete and stone. The living room is arranged in two clusters: one informal, anchored by a sectional sofa  and an Eames   lounge chair under a Flos lamp; the other more formal, with teak panelling and a Jaipur Rugs piece grounding the setting. Each area maintains its character yet remains oriented to views of trees through ribbon windows.

The bedrooms continue the balance between individuality and material restraint. The master bedroom combines terrazzo and concrete with a custom four-poster bed of stone pedestals and wooden posts while the other bedrooms interpret this language through graphite and sage tones, each reflecting the personality of its occupants.

Sustainability is seamlessly embedded in the residential architecture, not as an afterthought. The house takes advantage of orientation for daylight and cross-ventilation, while deeply recessed openings, cavity walls and laminated glazing minimise heat gain. The same care extends to the interiors where bathrooms and utility spaces use natural light and crafted concrete detailing to maintain the home’s tactile coherence. A solar roof over the gazebo supplies much of the household’s energy needs and lime plaster replaces synthetic paints. Materials were used resourcefully in construction, where leftover timber became furniture and marble offcuts were transformed into a console, ensuring minimal waste.

“Beyond its design expression, MS House shows what it takes to turn a brutalist house into a home. Every decision, every element, is a careful act of transformation, perfectly summarising the belief that architectural traditions must evolve with time, embrace the natural world and yet remain true to their underlying principles,” Doshi observes in the press statement. MS House, under his vision, distills the studio’s belief that architecture should evolve with its context and be responsive to landscape, climate and the lives it shelters.