When it came to designing his own home, architect Snehal Shah ensured that he practised what he preached by opting for sustainable building practices

Their practice is almost two decades old, and their repertoire boasts over 500 projects. But the most challenging project for Snehal and Saloni Shah of EssTeam was designing their own home. “So many ideas, so many possibilities and so many aspirations! All of this comes down to the vision that we as an architect couple created for our own house—a dwelling that exhibits a mature restraint in cutting out all that is unnecessary, and welcoming all that is right and aligned to the principles of nature,” explains Snehal Shah, MD & Design Director, EssTeam.

For Snehal and Saloni, and their entire team at EssTeam, sustainability is not a choice but a way of designing, a way of life. It comes as no surprise that their office is the first platinum Green Interiors in Gujarat, and their personal home has been rated the first platinum green home in the region.

The Structural Dynamics

The plan consists of four ‘C’ shaped walls—two facing north, and two facing south. This essentially generates two independent building blocks dividing the plot into three courtyards. The linear block facing the north court takes care of the public areas such as the living room, hobby room, dining and kitchen. All these spaces open into the north court, which is the formal lawn directly accessible from the street in case of larger gatherings. The other ‘C’ shaped block faces the South Court and houses four equally sized bedrooms, two on the ground floor and two stacked above them. This makes the South Court the private court meant for family sitouts. As one enters the house through a giant door between the two blocks, a surprise awaits—the Centre Court, or in a more traditional sense, the Chowk. This is a large non-programmed space that holds the entire house together. This naturally lit space allows both the private and public, the formal and casual, the outside and inside to come together.

Material Matters

The materiality plays a crucial role when it comes to building sustainably. “We derived a simple orthogonal plan for the house. Deciding the material palette for the house was the next challenge to practice restraint,” informs Snehal. One deciding factor was to do away with materials that would last for less than 20 years. “We opted for form-finished concrete walls and ceiling, as the intent was to rely on one material to create the entire shell of the house.” The entire house is designed with a very limited material palette. Keeping the longevity of the materials in mind, out went the tiles from the floor and wall cladding, and in came concrete floor, Indian sandstones and granites. Out went plywood from the house in totality and in came solid teak wood, aluminium, stones and glass for furniture.

The Inside Story

The bed and the window dressing of each of the four bedrooms are inspired from the works of four master artists—SH Raza, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Klee, and Georgia O’Keefe. The gentle introduction of Batik adds a lot of authenticity and depth to the rooms. The idea also overflows onto the cushions in the living room seating, which are interpreted in Batik from the works of renowned Indian artist, Jaimini Roy. With a firm belief that wood is a truly renewable resource, all the bedrooms were designed using just one material—open pore polished natural teak wood procured from a forest near Valsad, just about 100 km from the site.

Welcome to the Jungle

Nature had to be an integral part of the design. “My wife, an architect, artist and photographer, intervened with a giant banyan tree, with roots in the South Court and foliage spreading all over the Chowk and the public spaces of the house, till its branches peep out into the North Court. This sets the visual tone of the entire house as one keeps seeing the tree in parts from almost all the spaces, hence relating to the wholeness and the massiveness of the tree,” says Snehal.

The ‘Jungle’ theme resonates in a rather subtle way through some interesting colourful artworks and photographs occupying various locations in the house. Most of the artworks, such as the Peacock and the Ganesha, are designed or photographed by Saloni herself, giving a great sense of ownership on the overall creation of the house. Out in the North Court lawns is an interesting installation by her called ‘Soulebration’, about a group of forest aborigines celebrating life everyday. Other creations by artist friends include the ‘Dragon Flies’, ‘The Three Monkeys’, ‘The Sunflowers’ (on the outdoor dining, upcycled from a traditional cartwheel), and ‘The Wild Flowers’ (created from the scrap of bicycle parts).

Painting the House Green

Aligning to the principles of nature was a very important part of the vision. The house is a serious endeavour to
address the key issues of sustainability that the design profession needs to incorporate in all projects. “Interestingly, we had simulated the model of the house for natural daylighting, shading elements’ impacts on the heat gains, and wind flow through the various spaces of the house. The end result increased our conviction in these simulating exercises beyond any doubt,” informs Snehal. As passive aspects of the design of the house, the house addresses two key issues:

1. 100 percent daylighting: One doesn’t need to turn on the light anywhere in the house, practically from 8 am to 5.30 pm, all year round. The best part is that most of the daylight is glare free and diffused, making it usable in the climate of Surat’s latitude.

2. Natural wind flow comfort: All the spaces of the public block have no walls on north or south, but just a series of doors that allows a steady wind flow, generating an experience of sitting in a semi-open space in the hot and humid climate of Surat. Even the private spaces, such as the bedrooms, have two large windows placed strategically in order to ensure good wind flow through all of them. In terms of active aspects of sustainable design, quite a few efforts have been made. Following are the key ones:

3. Enhanced Indoor Air Quality (IAQ): Firstly, there is practically no paint used in the entire house, and all wooden furniture is coated with low VOC water based PU coatings, making the house almost nil VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds). To add to that the green landscape in the Chowk has plants that enhance the oxygen levels in the internal atmosphere of the house.

4. Renewable Energy: The terrace houses 10 KW capacity solar power generating PV panels, which takes care of over 60 percent of the power needs of the house.

5. Energy Efficiency: This is very well covered through the usage of energy efficient Air Conditioners, Electronic and Electrical equipments, and only high power LED as the artificial light source. The house is at least 30 percent more energy efficient than the benchmark regular house in the regional context.

6. Water Management Efficiency: The house uses at least 35% less water than a comparable house through the usage of faucets and sanitaryware with low flow rates, and a well evolved irrigation system for the landscape. All the rainwater from the plot and the society is funnelled into the ground for ground water recharging.

7. Reuse of Salvaged Materials and Furniture: Active and effective ideas to reuse salvaged materials, construction waste and some furniture from the old house have been implemented. All the stone wastage has been consumed in the paving of hardscaped areas. A seven year old sofa set from the previous house has been reused in the living and the hobby rooms. The white china mosaic in the terrace has been carried out using the third quality and rejected tiles.

8. Climate resistant plantations: The landscaping in all the three courts has been carried out using local plants that have good survival instincts to suit the climate of Surat. This includes regional and seasonal vegetables and fruit plantations.

For the efforts, the house has already been recognised with a Platinum rating in the IGBC Green Homes category, the highest level of rating. “A lot more can be done, and we shall better it as our learning curve improves,” says Snehal.

FACT FILE

Plot Area: 16200 Sq ft

Construction Area: 6727 Sq ft

Name of the project: Svasti

Firm Name: EssTeam Design Services LLP

Design Team and Designation: Ar Snehal Shah: Project lead – Architecture, Interior Design & Landscape, Ar Saloni Shah: Project lead – Art Integration, Soft Furnishing & Decor, Project Team: Ar Sagar Gandhi, Ar Krishna Khatlawala, Ms Ketna Padhar, Mr Arjun Sharma, Mr Chirag Kansagara, Mr Bhikhu Rathod

Art Solutions: M/s Oblique, Surat

Website: essteam.in

Location of the project: Surat, Gujarat

Snehal Shah, MD & Design Director, EssTeam

Snehal Shah is a multi-talented individual with a passion for design, entrepreneurship, and teaching. He holds degrees in Architecture and Urban Design from CEPT University and gained international experience at TU Delft in the Netherlands. In 2002, Snehal co-founded EssTeam, a design firm that has completed over 900 diverse projects throughout India. The company’s focus on sustainability has earned them recognition with over 40 Design Excellence Awards, and they have delivered 30 Green Certified projects, mostly Platinum Certified by IGBC and USGBC