Nishith Kothari

when the Tapadia's of Aurangabad approached us, they were very clear about one thing - they wanted the regality of the rajasthani palace Architecture of Rajasthan have always fascinated million's imagination. The mystic, ethnic and intricate designs in form of Jharoka's, Jalli's, Chatris, Havellie's have always the trademark & significant features of Rajasthani architecture. The brief was simple that we needed to transform an existing bungalow (exterior as well as interior) into a rajasthani themed house with keeping in mind the vaastu shastra in full extent. So to start with the concept, we had to put in lot of time & efforts in understanding each and every aspect of rajasthani architecture. After we conjured up the complete concept & planning for this 8500 sq.ft. space comprising of lower ground, ground and first floor, we were sure about one thing that, we do not want to over do the rajasthani flavor throughout. After lot of discussions & brain storming sessions we came to the conclusion that the exterior of bungalow will be in ethnic and interior would be a mix of ethnic and contemporary feel.

The herculean task which we faced during planning stage was accommodating vaastu shastra in the existing structure. As per extensive vaastu, we had to make way for drastic changes in the existing structure. Such as, Changing the main entrance to the bungalow from west side to north side, changing the direction of approach staircase for the main entry, changing the shape of main balconies on the west side, creating water body on north eastern portion of the site, shifting of toilet from one place to another and also accommodating natural stone cladding and elements such as jhrokhas, chatri & jallies on the existing structure. During the planning stage, we carefully chocked out the schedule for demolition of external facades of existing structure to accommodate the stone cladding and other rajasthani architectural features. As we reached the demolition stage, we took each facade and demolished them in sequential manner. For rajasthani look in exterior facades, we shortlisted bansi phadpurkar stone after lot of case studies and data collection.

We needed a stone which would weather well in Aurangabad climate and was easier to carve and had internal strength to withstand heavy loads. We modified the fenestration and balcony shapes to achieve balanced facades all over. The weight & construction detailing of each and every feature was carefully studied & worked out as it had to be loaded on an existing structure. Ancillary structures such as watchmens cabin & pet house were also designed in complete stone structure to merge them with the main concept. In interiors, we carefully designed it as a calculated fusion between ethnic and contemporary feel. For the flooring, we opted for Makrana Indian marble, which is well known for its strength and beauty. We created intricate inlay designs in the central double height lobby area with red & green natural stones, so as to highlight the area. Similary for the same area we designed the false ceiling in form of leaves interlocking in each other and visually achieving the grandness of the central lobby. Conceptually each room was designed as per the usage and was spiced up with fusion of contemporary and ethnic feel. Only in one guestroom on first floor, we had taken the liberty and created it as fully fledged rajasthani bedroom with attached toilet.

In living / drawing room, we treated one whole wall as the rajasthani art work known as tikri work for which we had employed rajasthani native artists. Even for the main entry door to bungalow, we had been to jodhpur to select the grand antique havelli door. Master bedroom & kids room had more of contemporary look with elegance flowing through major elements. We created the home theatre on the terrace with an attached toilet (with an open air shower space) opening out to terrace all around. In landscaping around the bungalow, we played with free curves drastically opposite to the strict and balanced rajasthani architecture. At the north eastern part of the site, we created water body surrounding the wooden gazebo which gives a visual effect of floating gazebo. Different levels in landscaping were designed to break away from the monotony.