Fact file
Location: Kerala
Size: 830 sq m
Principal Architect: Vinay Mohan
Photographs by Running Studios
The Axial House by VM Architects is an understated residence that showcases the integration of nature with the client’s family-centric lifestyle. The façade, with its clean, linear forms, is a homage to the simplicity equated with modernism, while the spatial composition sees rooms arranged along a central axis or passageway. The highlight of the project is a pool lounge adorned with temple lamps, beautiful truss work, and a lush vertical garden. The client, a practising physician with a wife, two kids, and elderly parents, desired a soothing residence with simple planning and uninterrupted family spaces. He was also keen on bringing nature into the interior spaces and integrating it with their lifestyle. Innovative design solutions that would reduce heat retention and maximise air circulation were the last of his mandates.
Keeping the aforementioned points in mind, the Axial House, located amidst a bustling residential area, stands out from its surroundings through its highly contemporary architecture and meticulous landscaping. The façade showcases a certain simplicity equated with modernism through a combination of clean horizontal and vertical lines. The narrow rectangular plot has been fashioned via an axial planning concept (from which it derives its name), wherein all the spaces are arranged along a central axis, which also serves as a passage and visual linkage.
All the rooms are designed to open onto views of the landscaped courts, thereby creating a refreshing atmosphere throughout the home. The pool area has been well conceived, with temple lamps and a lush vertical garden. The design of the truss work adds great sectional value to this space. Louvres along the side wall ensure continuous air circulation. Perforated clay bricks for the walls and a clay-tiled roof are a material palette that reduces the effect of external heat and helps create intricate light and shadow patterns that enliven the interior court spaces. With its cantilevered seating arrangement, the guest bedroom also features a view of this beautiful section.
Image caption, harmoniously combine two usually distinct indulgences
The link between the two main areas, the one closest to the entryway with the bar counter and lounge and the one at the rear reserved for aesthetic treatments, is a decorative feature with a great scenic impact: a series of deep blue glass portals guides the gaze towards the beauty area, giving the space perspective depth and a theatrical feel. This liminal space also houses the boutique and the facial bar, functions that will cater for a passing public and have faster times than the more complex treatments, as well as delineating the perimeter of the two lounges. “The management of flows and technical spaces,” the architects tell us, “was especially complex. The brief for both Ballard & Fant’s identities were quite specific and binding, so the phases of the choice of space and the layouts of the areas were the most challenging points in the whole project.” cts tell us, “was especially complex. The brief for both Ballard & Fant’s identities were quite specific and binding, so the phases of the choice of space and the layouts of the areas were the most challenging points in the whole project.”The link between the two main areas, the one closest to the entryway with the bar counter and lounge and the one at the rear reserved for aesthetic treatments, is a decorative feature with a great scenic impact: a series of deep blue glass portals guides the gaze towards the beauty area, giving the space perspective depth and a theatrical feel. This liminal space also houses the boutique and the facial bar, functions that will cater for a passing public and have faster times than the more complex treatments, as well as delineating the perimeter of the two lounges. “The management of flows and technical spaces,” the architects tell us, “was especially complex. The brief for both Ballard & Fant’s identities were quite specific and binding, so the phases of the choice of space and the layouts of the areas were the most challenging points in the whole project.” cts tell us, “was especially complex. The brief for both Ballard & Fant’s identities were quite specific and binding, so the phases of the choice of space and the layouts of the areas were the most challenging points in the whole project.”
The link between the two main areas, the one closest to the entryway with the bar counter and lounge and the one at the rear reserved for aesthetic treatments, is a decorative feature with a great scenic impact: a series of deep blue glass portals guides the gaze towards the beauty area, giving the space perspective depth and a theatrical feel. This liminal space also houses the boutique and the facial bar, functions that will cater for a passing public and have faster times than the more complex treatments, as well as delineating the perimeter of the two lounges. “The management of flows and technical spaces,” the architects tell us, “was especially complex. The brief for both Ballard & Fant’s identities were quite specific and binding, so the phases of the choice of space and the layouts of the areas were the most challenging points in the whole project.” cts tell us, “was especially complex. The brief for both Ballard & Fant’s identities were quite specific and binding, so the phases of the choice of space and the layouts of the areas were the most challenging points in the whole project.”
Image caption, harmoniously combine two usually distinct indulgences
The choice of materials and finishes was in keeping with this chromatic landscape. “Through the moodboard we visualized the allure of the space,” explains Pennesi. “An interplay of alternations between more or less tactile surface textures, contrasting colors and opaque and translucent finishes that create intriguing peep-through effects.”
This led to the choice of stoneware tiles by Ceramica Sant’Agostino, which deck the floors and bar counter with their dense and uniform speckled pattern and bind together the different areas into which the space is divided, wth laminates from Arpa Industriale and Kaindl, used respectively for the support surfaces and the structures of the bespoke furnishings.
“We chose these materials for both aesthetic and functional reasons. Aesthetic because this type of semi-finished product has color ranges that enabled us to make choices consistent with the palette we created; and practical because they are wearproof materials and ensure easy sanitization. In particular, Fenix, a special laminate we used to coat the counter top, with a surface that has a non-porous outer layer, makes the material easy to clean and suitable for contact with food as well as fingerprint-proof and pleasant to the touch.”
Even the lighting was curated in detail, helping create a pleasant and richly detailed environment. Bellhop cordless table lamps designed by Barber & Osgerby for Flos, illuminate the tables with their discreet light. Suspended above the bar counter is a spectacular suspension composition created with a series of “leaves” in Diphy polycarbonate. Designed by Mirco Crosatto for Stilnovo, it was inspired by a fascinating Japanese plant, whose flowers turn as transparent as crystal in contact with water.
