This house in Chandigarh is an atypical ode to simplicity and whimsy

Tarunpreet Singh Bhatia, architect and founder of the studio, decided to bring something uncommon to the all-around ordinariness of the home’s immediate environment, sitting as it does on a regular street amid regular homes. The final result was quite in keeping with the seven-year-old practice’s penchant of “going for a natural material palette in its attempt to achieve a balance between raw and finished surfaces”. 

Spreading across 4,500 square feet, the house is neatly laid out with mindful layering of spaces. The public living and dining areas at the front, bifurcated by the front entrance, followed by the kitchen, a family lobby (which has a second entrance) and a private courtyard, finally ending in three bedrooms towards the rear.

This easy movement is further anchored by the white marble flooring bordered by Jaisalmer stone and granite that runs uninterrupted through the house. While the privacy is absolute, these connections among the different spaces occupied by the family of five are as much a source of cohesion as the materials that meld the spaces into a seamless whole.

“There is a direct line of sight between the kitchen on the extreme left and the kid’s bedroom on the extreme right, via the lobby and courtyard,” explains Bhatia. Not to mention the view from the front lawn, through the courtyard to the internal staircase at the rear leads to the upper floor, which, in turn, looks down to the courtyard through louvred windows. Bhatia cleverly orchestrated a visual harmony, almost organically connecting the spaces.

The upper storey takes forward that narrative. Reached by a teakwood internal staircase featuring handmade Spanish tiles, the upper storey houses two guest bedrooms, a pantry, a common area and a landscaped terrace. And then there’s the “sloping roof [that] tapers upwards, bringing in a sublime view of the open sky unhindered by rooflines of neighbouring houses”. 

All of it is richly upholstered in colourful fabrics, a bright counterpoint to the stoic shell, as are the décor elements that include a cluster of wall plates in the living room.

This red-brick home in Corbusier’s Chandigarh may meet all the axioms of fuss-free modernism but Bhatia has given it a distinct character—sculptural yet liveable, modern yet traditional, stoic but personal. And while it is a respectful nod to the architects who built this city, at its core, it is simply a home crafted with the warmth and whimsy of its owners.