Fact File
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Size: 605 sq m
Principal Architects: Anand Menon and Shoban Kothari
Photography by: Sebastian Zachariah, Photographix

The Shift House by KDND Studio showcases an astute integration of functionality and aesthetics in a contextual framework that responds to the surrounding terrain. By levelling the site, the designers ensured that the residence boasts uninterrupted views of the Western Ghats and nearby lake. A ramp navigates the natural contours of the plot, leading up to the lower volume of the house—conceived as a mass growing out of the earth and materialising into a concrete form opening out over the valley-facing side. A brise-soleil façade, large verandahs, a swimming pool and a jacuzzi are other highlights of the vernacular, displaced-geometric, and contemporary homes. The lower level hosts the home’s social areas, such as the dining and living rooms, the master suite, and the service area.

The shift in the upper volume allows for the accommodation of the staircase leading to the four identical bedroom suites. Designed in green local stone, the façade attempts to camouflage itself with its surroundings. The brise soleil on the south façade protects the balcony, which stretches along the four bedrooms. The north-facing screen protects the porch and provides the necessary privacy. The lower volume, the larger block of the two, has an outdoor dining area adjacent to the pool. Utilities like generators and filtration plants are accommodated below this block. Since the south façade of the built form faces the brunt of the weather, it was necessary for this volume to “shift” outward and sideways to create the overhang for protection from the elements. The Shift House is an existential and displaced geometry set in its surroundings with a minimal, barefaced, and transparent experience.