THE HOUSE OF KNOWLEDGE

The Chadha household wakes up daily to the morning bell of the school across the road. Two young boys can be found scurrying for school, while the mother, a school principle and the father, a chemistry professor, swiftly get ready to attend to their respective students. For this nuclear family of 4, life is a perpetual learning process. So when they approached Space Race to renovate their existing Jalandhar home, the architects knew immediately that for the Chadha’s, this open mindset had to reflect in their new home as well. Being an old property, the architects were constrained by the existing walls, but despite the immovable, the challenge was to achieve a home that would remain open to all, while maintaining a sense of privacy to allow family life to flourish uninterrupted.
Since a long time, the Chadha household has functioned as both, a home and a coaching institute for senior secondary students. Being a place of work and personal life, a clear segregation between the two functions was a core idea behind the renovation. With the demands of privacy and individuality of a nuclear family structure, the project was viewed as an opportunity to not only modernise the house and build in additional comfort, but also nurture family ties. An open plan design of family spaces such as the kitchen, dining, formal and informal sitting rooms allows the family to organically converge, while bedrooms create an opportunity for privacy and independence that growing children especially need.
The staircase was transformed into an external element to divide the 2 levels in the house into a separately functioning home on the ground floor and the coaching centre on the upper floor. The architects modernised the house by carving straight lines out of the existing curvilinear façade. By providing a modernistic pitched roof, with wooden undercladding and appropriate lighting, one views the upper floor as perched on a weightless glass clad ground floor – lending a floating mass-like volume to the house. Further, a widened entrance gate makes the house look more welcoming to students and guests alike.
Inside the house, one is greeted by an open kitchen and a double height lobby. Natural light from the skylight above lends a joyful vibe to the entrance while the chandelier above a touch of elegance. Large barrier-free open spaces integrate family spaces, and also makes the house seem more spacious. Light wells and landscaped courtyards pierce interior spaces, adding visual comfort through the house with ambient sunshine and splashes of green.
Both bedrooms exude luxury and personal comfort. The husband-wife’s bedroom runs a classical theme, with rich fabrics, textured wallpapers, ambient lighting, and classical motifs. The children’s bedroom on the other hand embraces a more modern theme, with warm wooden cladding making it feel like a den or a cosy nook for the children. The bathrooms similarly complement the opulent nature of the bedrooms. Italian marble clad walls and floor, freestanding wash basins give an interesting layout that make the bathrooms seem even more luxurious than backlit onyx counter tops.
The architects at Space Race are well equipped to design luxury experiences. But in the grandiose comfort, they also remembered to keep in check the simpler pleasures in life. As the glorious pitched roof balcony overlooks the school across the street, it reinforces the connection of the Chadha family with education and the discipline of lifelong learning. Sipping tea on the balcony, watching the bustle of school children every morning, it is a reminder that no matter how busy life gets, it is these intangible experiences that make this house of knowledge a memorable home.