Sandwich House (A design Entry for “Who’s Next?” Design Competition by Paulomi Upadhyay & Sanobar Girap)

DESIGN LAYOUT: On a spacious suburban lot this house is designed to grow with the growing needs of a family. Its open floor plan creates a sense of grandeur along with satisfying multiple functions such as accessibility, views, communication etc. Central kitchen acts as a heart of the house whereas a comfortably sized family area forms a hub for daily activities. Bedrooms are neatly tucked way on the other side of a central circulatory hallway organising public and private area in the house.

DESIGN CONCEPT: The goal for this house design was to create rooms that open outward with generous provision of glass doors and windows that welcome sunny daylight and fresh air within. The plan though simple would eliminate the sense of confinement often found in such medium sized homes. Grouping of active and passive areas lead to bigger rooms and minimal hallways. Linear arrangement of services not only expresses simplicity but also results into less complex construction.

FEATURES: The House is passively designed to maintain optimal temperature through natural ventilation with the aid of operable windows, sufficient day lighting and use of photovoltaic systems to help reduce overall energy costs. Intelligent use of rapidly renewable/locally available materials reduces construction costs and increases longevity. The ridge line of the roof, acts as spine of the house, under which all the services of the house are located. This not only helps in ease of maintenance to all utilities such as plumbing, water heater, and central air-conditioning, ventilation ducts but also minimizes cost of the house due to shortened length of service cables, pipes and ducts.

“The Sandwich house”: Traditional in appearance and Contemporary in functionality

Facade: Main entrance designed as an integrated feature of the house to add a surprise element of courtyard bringing the outdoors into the living indoor spaces. Multilevel deck area created a large outdoor living space.

Roof: Courtyards covered with Pergolas, traditional brick fireplace and bay windows give character to the house. South facing roof provides enough surface area for installation of PV and Solar water heating panels.

Central Command: Central command kitchen clearly distinguishes between dining area and living/family area. Large French doors open to multi-level outdoor deck.

Traditional meets Contemporary: Contemporary floor plan blended with traditional architectural features such as moulded mantle piece, craftsman style pillars adorning large entrance portals, exposed beams and vaulted ceilings.

In the lap of Luxory: Master bedroom suite has its own spacious walk-in closet with separate WC area, Jacuzzi, shower and double-basin vanity area. Full height windows at the shower and tub give the experience of outdoors while still maintaining a sense of privacy with an enclosed courtyard. Clear glass shower enclosures give the bathroom a spacious and airy feel.