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Architects: RIVERINE Architecture
- Area: 2200 ft²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Shakil Ibne Hai
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Manufacturers: Holcim, AKS Steel, Akij Cement, Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Conforce Limited, Energypac, KAI Aluminium, Nasir Glass
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Lead Architect: Sharif Jahir Hossain
Text description provided by the architects. This single-family house was built in a rural area near Kathi Bazar, Gopalganj, Bangladesh. Two brothers and their mother decided to build a house in memory of their father and for their mother to live a healthy life in the natural rural environment rather than residing in an enclosed urban life. The owners of this house wanted a beautiful, modern, minimal, and unique house with openness and privacy. Initially, the idea was to change the single-story to a double-storied one to enjoy distant natural rural views, better light ventilation, etc.
The form of the dwellings was generated by the idea of 'The house as a pavilion to live in,' a concept inspired by its surroundings and desire for openness to nature. The house's internal volume, which is 1300 SF per floor, contains the various rooms. The outer volume, which is 800 SF (more or less) on both floors, is the cantilevered verandas and voids surrounding the internal volume. The planning of the house has been kept compact. The ground floor accommodates formal living, dining, an informal open seating area, a bed, a common toilet, and a kitchen. The staircase at the center position connects the floors. The first floor has four bedrooms with attached toilets each, with cross ventilation and verandas. A family living at the center opposed the stairs.
The north-south orientation of the house ensures less solar heat gain and maximum summer wind flows. The continuous veranda on both floors is a semi-outdoor space that connects and makes a strong relationship between indoors and outdoors. This space gives weather protection from direct sun to the façade and its large openings, thus keeping the indoor environment cool in the summer. Again, this space protects the sun's glare, giving shadowed space and the liberty of openness to the indoors. Large openings in the internal façade ensure more lights and ventilation. There are four concrete walls at the four corners of the first-floor slab, which give the structural stiffness, define the outer volume, and give protection from the sun and privacy.
The building structural system is RCC column-beam and footing to support the slab. The outer façade has kept the natural finish of the handmade brick and is exposed as cast concrete to celebrate its natural beauty and blend with the natural settings. The existing pond has been dug again to hold more rainwater for all the seasons and for enjoying swimming. The soil from the digging of the pond was used to raise the building plinth. The existing mahogany trees have been cut and used to make the building doors and room furniture. New fruit trees have been planted instead of those mahogany trees. The house owners played professionally early on and were passionate about sports. They made a small sports field and facilities for Football, Badminton, etc. within the premises.
