The House Around a Pool By Open Door Design Studio

Overview

The house is situated in Karachi’s neighborhood of Defence Phase VIII, a large expanse of low lying, barren land. It aims to respond to the absence of built and natural context, and the security and privacy constraints that constitute life in this city.

It is a house for a small family, a couple with two daughters and their grandmother. The architecture of the house is a solid gesture, with a central opening. The proportion of columns amidst this central space, and the elements that constitute it create an atmosphere for light and air, and a space to sit, to pass by and to live in.

The Layout

The layout of the house is an attempt to connect the spaces of the house, the lounge is located on axis as one enters, it reads as an extension of the pool deck.The glass facade opens up toward the courtyard and the main door as well as all the living spaces open into the courtyard. The central linear passage which opens to the sky is a bridge between the two masses.
There are multiple architectural elements which flow into and from the hearth of the house. All the windows in the house open up toward it, and the act of opening the windows is a movement toward the court. The ground plane is designed to morph into different elements both inside the house and outside, it flows from the stone floor outside into a soft grass lawn, from the lawn to a stone deck ,from the deck to the blue of the water in the pool and beyond into the rooms inside. This ties all the spaces in the house to the pool deck and to the water in the pool, it allows for movement, and for special moments to play out in everyday life, around the hearth.
The hearth is the first space that one encounters as they step into the house, it is the foyer, it is the play area for the children, it is a space to sit and enjoy a cup of tea, and a space to admire the sunset from, it acts as a funnel for the south-west wind to flow into all the spaces of the house whilst being cooled by the water in the pool – it is a space for water and people to be with light and air, and it reverberates with activities and radiates this energy into the rest of the house. “

Schematics

Undertaking

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