Box House
Category
Residential
Location
Malappuram, Kerala
Year
2019
Safder, Shabeeb, Siyad, Safwan, Jaseel, Irshad, Rajeev
Words
Uma
Photography
Prashanth mohan & Insaf
Uru Consulting commits itself to the ‘paradigm of sustainability’ with the unembellished Box House, described as a “clean, well-lighted place,” borrowing from the title of a short story by Hemingway. Located near Calicut International Airport, in the Malappuram district of the tropical, south Indian state of Kerala, Box House makes local breeze, sunlight, and native, sweet-smelling trees central characters in the design. The dwelling marries Scandinavian minimalism with earthy craft and colour sensibilities of south India, formed as a ‘plain canvas’ open to interpretation and future improvisations of the client.
A chalk white geometric volume sits among fresh green landscaping with lanky, towering palm trees for company, manifesting itself as “a rare blend of aesthetic refinement and mundanity. We believe that the residence stands out for its harmonious geometric, Bauhaus shapes, deep-rooted in ‘function’ - this is the crux of the Box House,” informs Safder Machilakath, CEO and Managing Partner, Uru Consulting.
The residential architecture portrays a lesson in sustainability, by embracing the phrase Going Local is the New Global. Uru places the two-storeyed Box House amid a lush green rice field with tall coconut trees flanking its form, bringing to life a picture perfect, verdant village in Kerala. The materials used for construction are sourced and manufactured locally – terracotta coloured clay tiles of Feroke are used to construct latticed screens (jaali), while Indian white marble covers the floors. Coal black, polished laterite stones act as the entrance steps that face a buffalo grass landscaping.
