Koodu, or the Nest, is a budget home designed for a single mother and her two children. The house is located at Eravipuram, Kerala, on the southwest coast of India, along the Arabian Sea. The site lies within a densely packed urban area, where most plots range from 2 to 3 cents in extent. This house is built on a 2-cent plot, with only 1 cent dedicated to the built-up area. This project is a pro bono effort that attempts to push the boundaries of design; unrestrained by budgetary constraints, limitations of space, or scarcity resources. Funded by the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana (PMAY), along with the support of generous sponsors, this home was brought to life through collective goodwill. The structure is an experimental attempt to create an asymmetrical groin vault—an architectural feature with very few precedents worldwide. We drew inspiration from the brick jaalis and the craftsmanship of Laurie Baker, whose work made affordable housing accessible to the masses. This project explores the possibilities of small-space living through an open-plan layout that unifies the living, dining, and kitchen areas. The ground floor has one bedroom with an attached toilet while the first floor has two bedrooms with a shared toilet , all connected by a winding staircase carefully tucked within the limited area available. Pastel colours were used to define and enhance spaces crafted with earthen materials. The tropical new wave landscape plays a vital role in grounding the structure within its context, enhancing the quality of living by seamlessly merging interior and exterior spaces. We believe that design is all-encompassing, and meagreness should never be a reason to exclude access to good design. On the contrary, it presents opportunities to innovate and push the boundaries of creativity—crafting magical spaces using the available resources.
The chiseled house was one of our earliest renovation projects. The original house was constructed 13 years back and had used heavy ornamentation in its architectural expression. The layout had disjointed functions and lacked ventilation. We redesigned the house with a minimal architectural vocabulary based on the functional requirements. The skewed roof form is the outcome of a design process based on functional requirements and structural integrity. Layers of bamboo and other tropical planting, at different strategic points bring about passive cooling, and adds greenery to the house.
