Studio sangath’s Courtyard as Compass
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Just outside Gandhinagar, India, the Alloa Hills Weekend House folds gently into the land, allowing the terrain to dictate its rhythm. Studio Sangath approached the residential project with quiet attentiveness, designing a retreat that prioritizes stillness and intimacy with the surrounding topography. Tucked into a bend in the Sabarmati River’s landscape, the house offers its residents a reprieve from the acceleration of city life, but also extends its welcome to artists, writers, and filmmakers seeking time away to create.
At the core of the brick and terracotta residence is a courtyard that both divides and anchors the interior spaces. The inner garden draws the horizon inward, reframing nature as a constant companion rather than a distant view. This spatial arrangement extends outward into a stepped terrace that spills into the surrounding terrain, intended to host everything from quiet evenings under the sky to informal performances. Studio Sangath’s design orients the home to receive the landscape with open arms, dissolving barriers between shelter and scenery.
A house shaped by Recycled Earth
Designing its Alloa Hills Weekend House, the architects at Studio Sangath choose materials with consideration for the natural context. Beginning with compressed bricks composed of recycled brick kiln waste, the team brings a tactility to the structure and grounds the project in its environment. This thoughtful approach lends a sense of stewardship to the project, as the walls themselves seem to speak to the layers of earth they emerged from. The result is a home whose material story resonates with the cycles of renewal around it.
Along its longitudinal axis, the home is bordered by wide verandahs that mediate between enclosure and exposure. These shaded galleries soften the edges of the building, giving the living spaces breathing room to interact with sun, wind, and rain without confrontation. When the doors are left open, the home becomes a quiet pavilion, with air and light moving unimpeded through its rooms. Morning enters with a softness, while the evening light brushes the courtyard from within, establishing a rhythm of illumination that changes by the hour.
A Language of Terracotta in alloa hills
Material continuity defines the sensory experience of Studio Sangath’s Alloa Hills Weekend House. Terracotta finds its way into nearly every surface, from the pigmented concrete walls to the red-toned brick floors and sun-warmed pavers. This shared language of texture and tone allows the architecture to unfold slowly and cohesively, offering a lingering, tactile warmth. In the Alloa Hills, the architects craft a home that moves with the day, is generous with its thresholds, and is fluent in the language of the land.
