house on a high plinth

The site for this house is located in a dense neighborhood in East Ahmedabad. The client had an existing house on the plot which they wanted to demolish and construct a new one. The primary requirement of a new house came about because of rain water flooding the ground floor of the old house every monsoon during heavy rain spells. The first and default requirement therefore was of a high-plinth in the new house. . The neighborhood still has a community living aspect intact unlike newer gated communities of apartments and bungalows in the city. This aspect resulted in the house form emerging as one with visual connections from within to the street at various levels and physical connection through the ‘otalo’ on the ground floor and street facing balconies and openings on the first floor. The central double volume space is axially linear to the entrance and the staircase resulting in an active and connected central spine at the heart of the house.