How can contextual architecture be built without knowing how the context may evolve? Building context-appropriate buildings promises a significantly superior user experience, but how does one forecast changing environments? While designing for a family of four in the tropical landscapes of Kerala, India, one of the challenges Zero Studio had to tackle was to conceive a dwelling that adapted to the probability of a significantly changed context since the plot was actively undergoing development, even during the construction phase. Located in Malappuram in Kerala, The Lantern House seeks to equipoise a mighty presence with an unimposing stature. The 5500 square feet house is designed for an NRI family—with the brief’s gist expecting the home to evoke a sense of homecoming.

Situated amidst the tranquil beauty of coconut plantations, the house is located on the clients’ ancestral land and inhabits a seeming zen charm. “The tranquil setting doesn't invite any kind of intrusions. Altering this and bringing about any kind of change called for a respectful approach,” Zero Studio, an Indian architecture firm stated in their official release. The architects, thus, employed the facade as a tool for ‘screening’ the built from the unbuilt, placing the otherwise extensive volume lightly in the context. The challenge, however—as the studio shares—is that this context will potentially change with future development of the site and might lose out on its lush vegetation. Zero Studio’s solution to that came with inviting the foliage into the residence itself, objectively obscuring the borders between the site and its context. The screen and the layer of the landscape inside the screen, thus, also assume the role of filtering the light and noise from the outside. The adjustable nature of the foliage provides the users with the flexibility to control the openness of the house.

The monolithic identity of the Lantern House—acquired from the screen entirely enveloping the house—camouflages windows and doors, obscuring the functional nature of individual elements. The clients’ awareness of architectural aesthetics greatly influenced the project's design, since their travels made them aware of the global architectural scene. They wanted their residential design to assume a global appeal and be unconventional while being cognizant of its context. “The project significantly differs from the other NRI houses found in the region, especially in terms of its visual imposition. The houses typically found stand out from their contexts, with very elaborate designs and detailing. The clients' lived experiences brought them to want an atypical household that delved into the experiential nature of unrestrained built spaces. Having lived in hostels and small apartments during their time studying and working abroad evoked the desire for a spacious house that did not possess stark peripheries—within the residence itself and also with the setting,” Shabna K, Head Architect at the Zero Studio, tells STIR. The unravelling of all these requirements posed the challenge of a capacious dwelling that is modest in its expression, resulting in the Lantern House.

The Indian architects ensured that the entrance of the private residence opens into a large volume where all the common spaces are knit into one and an elongated water body is nestled along the entrance. While the house assumes an open plan with the common spaces fusing into each other, the residence is replete with nooks that cater to the specific needs of the client’s family. “There are personalised elements like the wooden deck with a hammock for the daughter to read, the floating deck by the living area that opens out to the garden. All of it opens to one volume, which the family uses to host larger gatherings,” Shabna elaborates on how the residence’s ambiguous spaces shapeshift functionally to cater to both personal and public usage. These elements—alongside the reading space in the extended stair landing, the private balcony of the first-floor bedroom overlooking the plantation, the terrace planters, the bay windows and the prayer room—celebrate the clients' varying needs and enhance their desired experience of homecoming. The prayer room holds a special character too—responding to the client’s requirement of wanting a serene sacred space—where Arabic calligraphy engraved on a metal screen filters light into the room. The water body at the bottom of the metal screen enhances the emotive experience by charging the space with a mystical appeal.

The materiality of the house carries an honest palette that blends the visual boundaries of the structure and the integrated landscape, thus complementing the uncluttered appeal of the residence. The plethora of openings holds more value than just enhancing the spatial experience of the house. It creates the opportunity for air to freely move in and out of the house, enabling cross ventilation, which acts as a passive strategy to induce indoor comfort for the inhabitants.

While the residential architecture does not give away the privacy of its users due to its external screen, it lights up during the night with the filtered light giving it a soft glow, rightfully earning the Lantern House its moniker.  The crux of the project’s identity perhaps lies in its consideration of the context while also accounting for the possibility of changing environments and its integration of nature as an inseparable part of the built environment.

Project Details

Name: The Lantern House
Location: Kerala, India 
Year of Completion: 2022
Architect: Zero Studio
Area: 510 sqm