A Coimbatore Home That Lives By The Rhythm Of Light

Principal architect Pranavi Jaganathan of Kru Architecture and Interiors has always been one to play with the medium of light and her latest Coimbatore project is especially compelling in the way it casts a beautiful sciography within the interiors through the simple means of a slatted wooden façade. “Central to the spatial experience is a series of carefully designed light pockets,” Pranavi explains, referring to the semi-open deck on the first floor enveloped in foldable screens, the central courtyard functioning as a greenhouse for illumination within this five-bedroom Ranthal House, along with strategic slab cut-outs that accentuate visual connectivity. “These voids bring daylight deep into the core of the house and frame shifting patterns of shadow and light through the day.” Structurally, the 9,000 sq. ft. home behaves like a scrupulous gatekeeper, allowing a balanced flow of luminance, cross-ventilation, and noise. Staircases, partitions, and ceilings transcend their architectural roles, inducing a reassuring sense of privacy within the house. The result is both intimate and extroverted, a careful negotiation between indoors and outdoors.

“Wooden louvers line sections of the outer envelope, evoking the slatted construction of a traditional ranthal; at night, the house becomes a lantern in the urban fabric,” shares Ar. Pranavi Jaganathan, Principal Architect at Kru Architecture and Interiors.

FACT FILE

The entrance foyer is restrained, subtly demarcating communal and private areas without sequestering them, while manifesting the different roles this family plays in society. An antique Saraswati veena from the heirloom collection is displayed here, alongside a set of Indian jharokha wall décor pieces and a hand-woven flat-weave cotton rug or 'jamakkalam'. Together, they set the tone for what follows, a soulful medley of heritage, material honesty, and a passion for the music of life. The adjoining study hosts visitors and allows professional interactions to be addressed close to the threshold, without revealing the deeper recesses of the home. This kind of spatial zoning compartmentalises the residence both physically and emotionally.

The Wonders of Natural Light and Convection

The design philosophy for Ranthal House was deceptively simple. Natural light is meant to be lured in, preserved zealously, and released gradually into the interconnected spaces, while keeping the connection with the outdoors intact. “The interiors are defined by this play of light—dynamic, soft, and layered—creating an ever-changing mood that responds to time and season,” Pranavi explains. The double-height central courtyard serves as the functional core of the home, with limpid green Kota flooring reflecting sunlight and siphoning it into the living room and dining area that flank it on either side.

The layout is open and inward-facing. Warm, less dense air from outside trickles in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, complemented by slab cut-outs, generous ceiling heights, and abundant cross-ventilation. This air then rises through the double-height courtyard shaft, only to softly sussurate through the collapsible louvers of the first-floor deck, keeping the home’s microclimate comfortable through an age-old ventilation technique known as the 'stack effect'.

Inspired by the Local Context

The floor plan unfurls along the spine of the double-height courtyard. “The ground floor houses two bedrooms positioned in the southwest and northwest corners, offering privacy and seclusion,” Pranavi maps it out. From the foyer to the dining area, living room to the ground-floor lounge, pooja to the staircase ascending upwards, the transitions remain permeable. Before fanning out to the bedchambers, a pooja room sits discreetly concealed behind a foldable door of fluted glass and teakwood, etched with lotus motifs that lend the space its sanctity.

Locally available and organic materials emerge at the forefront. Warm tones of wood, inlaid Kota stone flooring, and rattan are paired with linens in subtle, muted hues to build texture, while brass artefacts are interspersed across the dining area for visual drama. Cocoon-like pendant lights appear sporadically within the design language, featuring woven fibres that patently touch upon the regional context.

A Porous, Breathing Façade

The palette of cane, teakwood, exposed concrete, handloom jamakkalams, and Kota stone continues upstairs, albeit attuned to a more personalised effect. In keeping with the home’s design language, the multipurpose family lounge is retrofitted with a mid-century modern wooden bookshelf, brimming with the family’s folklore memorabilia and yielding an intimate refuge from the suburban mayhem outside. A sculptural folded staircase in exposed concrete with wooden treads winds through the vertical axis, while a cheeky rope hammock net is suspended above, doubling up as a comfortable and unconventional lounging spot for the children.

The rhythm of natural light, vernacular craftsmanship, and openness continues within the bedrooms without disruption. Nothing feels ostentatious; everything is meaningfully curated. Hand-blocked cotton bedsheets, printed with ornamental birds, flowers, and creepers, evoke a faint memory of the Coromandel aesthetic. “The upper-level hosts three bedrooms, opening up to balconies fitted with vertical wooden screens,” Pranavi points out. “On the eastern side is a semi-open hall, which embraces flexibility, blurring the boundaries between inside and out.”

The architects consider the collapsible screens wrapping this shaded sit-out deck its spotlight gesture. “At night, as warm light spills out through these screens, the house transforms—casting a patterned glow outward, illuminating its surroundings softly while preserving the sense of enclosure and privacy,” explains Pranavi, who also intended this façade to help regulate the home’s thermal gain. The result is not merely a balmy tropical retreat, but a masterstroke in climate-responsive design, allowing the family to syncopate their daily rhythms with the sun’s peregrinations across the landscape.