Brick Jali Wall Provides Privacy And Ventilation

Designed By: BetweenSpaces.

Location: Bengaluru (Bangalore), Karnataka, India | Latitude: 12.957° N.

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When you approach this home, the beautiful terracotta brick jali wall is the first thing that greets you. This brick jali fence provides privacy from the street. In addition, its design allows natural ventilation to flow through the front courtyard and into the home.

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Site and Context

Cuckoo’s Nest is in a gated community in Bengaluru (formally Bangalore). It is on a corner lot with roads to the north and west of the property. The site is 45’ x 75’, and some palm trees along both streets. There is also a silver oak tree on the site.

The primary approach to the house is along the west street. However, you enter the property from the road on the north.

House Design Brief

This home is for three generations.

“The brief was to design a house that is simple, pragmatic and modern for ageing parents of the owners, the owners themselves and their two sons.”

– BetweenSpaces

Hence, BetweenSpaces aimed to create a space that encourages conversations between the three generations.

House Design Concept

The concept of the house revolves around the idea of “playfulness and pragmatism”.

Photo: Shamanth Patil J

Its name, Cuckoo’s Nest, comes from the playful imagery of a cuckoo’s clock created by the children’s bedroom. However, the design is pragmatic to accommodate the needs of the client.

House Design Strategies

“The proposed design interprets the typical layering in south Indian temple complex, where the inner sanctum is surrounded by layers of pillared verandahs and the outermost layer of tall fence. This layering helps in gradually taking people from the chaotic outdoors to the serene and quiet indoors in a sequential manner.”

– BetweenSpaces

You enter the property through a gate to the north. From that gate, you move through a covered verandah. The verandah is between the front courtyard and runs along the west-facing brick jali wall. There is a deliberate transition in scale and material separating the street from inside the home. The verandah has a form finish concrete ceiling and a brick jali wall. However, once you enter the house, the finishes become cleaner and more refined.

Photo: Shamanth Patil J

In an interview with Buildofy, architect Pramod Jaiswal of BetweenSpaces explains the intention behind this entry sequence. He said that it gives the homeowner the sense of leaving the clutter behind before entering their home.

In addition, soft and indirect daylight floods the interior spaces. This light comes through skylights over the staircase and through deep-set windows. There is also a skylight in the pooja room, which brings in the morning sunlight.

House Design Layout

From the gate, the verandah leads to the foyer on the ground floor. The foyer is separated from the living room by a “filigree” partition screen with a bench and shoe storage area.

After the foyer, you go into the living room and double-height dining space. The dining area is right in the centre of the house.

Photo: Shamanth Patil J

In addition, the ground floor has two bedrooms for the grandparents. One bedroom is in the southeast corner and the other in the northwest. Each bedroom has a setback from the boundary. This setback creates an outdoor space where the grandparents can sit and enjoy.

There is also a kitchen and a pooja room on the ground floor.

The first floor also has two bedrooms. One bedroom is for the two sons. Their room is in the part of the house that juts out like a cuckoo clock. It also has a pitched roof and an outdoor balcony area. In addition, there is a small loft over their bathroom. This loft area becomes a fantastic play area for the boys.

Photo: Shamanth Patil J

The second bedroom belongs to the client. It is in the southwest corner of the first floor and has a bathroom and walk-in closet. It also has an outdoor balcony.

Other rooms on the first floor include a study and terrace. There is also a double-height volume over the dining room on the ground floor below.

Brick Jali Wall and Courtyard Garden

A jali or jaali is a traditional Indian perforated screen. The brick jali walls surround the house’s front courtyard and garden on the northern side of the property. On the western side, the brick jali extends along that side of the property as well. Also, garden planters run the length of that wall.

The brick jali performs multiple functions. First, it provides some privacy from cars and people passing by on the road. The jali is perforated, and hence there are spaces where one can still see in and out. However, the view is obscure.

Secondly, the small gaps in the wall allow natural breezes to flow through the garden and into the home.

In addition, the jali on the western side also assists in partially screening the sun. The low angle sun comes through in the evenings. Hence, it reduces the amount of sun and create a beautiful light and shadow pattern on the veranda.

“The entry to the house has been deliberately convoluted to make the inhabitants move through a green edged verandah sandwiched between the courtyard on its eastern side and the brick jali wall on the western side of the property.”

– BetweenSpaces

At the front of the house, on the northern side, is the small garden. The jali provides privacy to the garden without feeling small. Hence, though it is right next to the road, the courtyard is more useable by the family.

Photo: Shamanth Patil J

Also, the courtyard garden becomes an extension of the living room. It is like its own outdoor room and creates a strong connection with the interior.

Materials And Finishes

“The inherent honesty and simplicity of the house are reflected in the usage of terracotta bricks, form finish concrete, white walls, white marble and a very simple décor in the interior spaces.”

– BetweenSpaces

The interior spaces of this home are kept very simple. A few select walls are hues of blue. Doors, screens and other elements are in warm, wooden brown tones. Otherwise, the walls and ceilings are white. The floors in the main spaces on the ground floor are white marble.

Exterior finishes mainly consist of the terracotta brick, form finish concrete and Sira Grey on the ground entry-level.

The main mass of the home is white. However, Sira Grey Granite clads the pitched roof element to the front.

“Cuckoo’s Nest is designed to be a sanctuary intended to resonate with the silence and quietude of a temple complex, yet be filled with the sounds of conversation between three generations.”

– BetweenSpaces

Related articles:

• Observe these alternative houses featuring courtyards.

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Designed by: BetweenSpaces
Photography by: Shamanth Patil J