Inside A Thrissur Home Where Stone, Wood And Terracotta Swaddle Nature

Sunlight, bevelled and broken by a jali screen, pours into a traditional Kerala-style house tucked within the temple town of Pazhayannur, in the Thrissur district. Shrouded in an idyllic bower of Alocasia, White Bird-of-Paradise and Heliconia, ‘Saswatha’ seems to have emerged from Kerala’s material substrate itself. Be it the sloping roofs, double-height volumes or the integration of two courtyards, the indigenous architecture here has always embraced profuse sunlight and an unspoken reverence for minimalism. Thrissur, the cultural capital of the state, is known for its Indo-Gothic churches, mystical Shiva shrines, roving elephants, luscious plantains and elemental motifs of teak, laterite and terracotta. In this storied region, the home blossoms upon a 15-cent plot (5,877 sq. ft.), in a holy covenant with history. Though it may not be evident, this abode marks the maiden project of Ar. Midhun M, Principal Architect at GVQ Architecture Studio.

“The name of this house, ‘Saswatha’, is derived from the Malayalam word ‘Saswatam’, which means eternal, symbolising the bond between two brothers on which this house was built. The architecture reflects this unity through spaces designed not to separate but to connect, holding their shared life gently within its walls,” explains Ar. Midhun M.

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The Permeability of Indoor-Outdoor Living

Perched across from a flourishing pineapple field, the site lies cradled by wetlands and hillocks along the foothills of the Eastern Ghats, deftly eliding the boundary between an unruly terrain and man made structures. The design makes the most of a 10-cent carpet area, allowing for generous living spaces while conforming to setback regulations. This meticulous planning wraps the family in a veil of intimacy, without sacrificing a view of the mist settling upon craggy mountaintops or rivulets trickling down into the plains during the monsoons. With the main road running abreast of the entrance, access remains effortless, even as the home withdraws into a cocoon of calm within.

Echoing the ancient legacy of the ‘padippura’, this dwelling announces itself through a roofed entrance gateway that once delineated the boundary of Kerala homes, recalling the silhouettes of temple gopurams. A striated application of Kadappa and Laterite stone clads the outer walls, caressing the structure with an earthy touch, while terracotta jaalis sweeten the transition from exterior to interior. Dipping into the forgotten annals of Thachu Sastra, a primeval treatise on carpentry, the architecture channels vernacular wisdom through raw concrete surfaces, bay windows and latticework.

A Choreography of Greens and Filtered Light

As you wander in, an elegantly landscaped front yard reveals itself, cultivated to ingratiate nature with rural modern living. A cubic stone pathway veers nimbly toward the ‘poomukham’, a quintessential feature of heritage homes, which arises as the second threshold after the ‘padippura’.

Once the seat of the village elder, this semi-open shaded portico catches the best cross-ventilation and holds space for neighbours, itinerant visitors from far-flung family circles, or simply to recline and watch the seasons change. Circumscribed by slender pillars and Ayurvedic plants, this informal living area is lined with built-in seating and connects to the interiors through a bay window.

The kinesics of sunlight and day breezes in Saswatha are inextricably tied to its open-plan layout, where the living and dining areas imbricate effortlessly into a grand central space. “I had this thought of creating a common space at the centre of the house, so that it acts as the heart,” Midhun says, dissecting the fluid configuration. “It has a double-height volume and opens to the east and west, allowing ventilation and sunlight to flow through easily.”

The living room fans out as a layered, multi-sensory space that keenly balances an interplay of proportions with levels of privacy. 

A sunken seating area features an heirloom ‘jhulha’, swaying with its own momentum of languid repose. To the east, a koi pond courtyard anointed with a Buddha statue becomes an oasis of meditative calm, while stepping stones skim across the surface, drawing the eye toward a lattice-roofed canopy that casts a chiaroscuro of sunbeams and shadows. A flourish of Moroccan tiles weaves an eye-catching mosaic of intricate florals into the flooring.

Soft upholstery, blue-accented fabrics, and colonial-style teak furniture add tiers of texture, while a panoply of vintage musical instruments and house plants flood the space with a lived-in, bohemian spirit.

The Nuances of Separation

A custom partition rack, hewn out of a robust wooden structure and a durable iron frame, doubles up as an ergonomic divider between the living and dining areas. With adjustable length and modular cubby holes ideal for tiny saplings or souvenirs trawled from the family’s pilgrimages, this cutting-edge piece of cabinetry serves as both a storage solution and an intriguing design gesture. Demarcating the space artfully without severing its sense of flow, the rack becomes an ersatz threshold, letting light and glances traverse freely.

Beyond this frontier, the dining area sprawls across a soaring double-height volume, underpinned by a picnic bench style setup and surrounded by colossal apertures that frame garden views. The space continues the language of transparency, bringing in natural light from the adjoining courtyards and inviting a cool, murmuring current of air to slip through the jaali blocks, lift moisture from the koi pond, and bequeath mealtimes with a salubrious quality.

Repossessing The Vertical

From the dining area, pathways stretch outward like the tendrils of a living taproot, extrapolating to three comfortably appointed bedrooms along a shared courtyard. This single green lung offers a buffer of breathing space, allowing each room to feel nourished yet inseparable. Above, a fourth bedroom is stitched into the first floor, a patchwork of stylistic influences that is reached by ascending a staircase from the edge of the living room. At the foot of this stair, a textured grey wall plunges the space into understated gravitas.

Upon it hangs a Fauvist-style painting that reinstates the bond of brotherhood, stimulating the lower level with a pulse of joy.

Between the living area and the upper floor rests a strategically calibrated landing space, flanked by a brooding bay window. Primarily intended as a study area for the children, this compact niche is bestowed with built-in seating and shelves. It becomes a whimsical alcove not only for reading or contemplation, but for the homeowners to soak in the light, witness the rhythms of the household below, or simply revel in the stillness.

The Cadence of Slow Living

The first floor marches to the beat of the family’s evolving needs. The master bedroom sits to one side, spacious and zealously withdrawn from the more public areas of the home. Rather than dictate, the architecture responds with a palette that is honest and grounded in an almost soft brutalist vein. Raw concrete imbues the walls with a gritty texture, while granite floors lend a reassuring coolness beneath bare feet. Furnishings and décor pull up earthen tones from the spring well of organic modernism that quenches the home’s desire for visual continuity and emotional warmth. Windows are placed to welcome light in, to let it linger across surfaces and awaken the room coyly.

Beyond the quietude of the master bedroom, an open sitting area unfurls beneath a sloping roof that gathers sky and silence in equal measure. Along the edges, built-in stone seating beckons family members to lounge and simply trace the movement of clouds. It is a place designed not for function alone but for afternoon silences, for the kind of unhurried wool gathering that makes time feel suspended. 

Steeped in the cultural and material context of Thrissur, this house is a collusion of vernacular architecture and contemporary living. Built on principles of sustainability, the home draws from Kerala’s innate wisdom through passive cooling techniques, locally available materials and spatial planning that fosters a symbiotic relationship with nature. From the ‘padippura’ entrance to the double courtyards and open-plan living areas, every element is attuned to a slow, enduring form of architecture that venerates heritage, nurtures daily life and continues to grow with the family it shelters.