The driving vision behind Sahyog Studio’s architecture was to create a self-sustaining, energy efficient green building, where people not only work, but participate in activities like inhouse farming and sustainability. Keeping this in mind, the three storey architecture was divided into two parts – open spaces and built spaces.

Open spaces consist of lawn, garden area, farming areas, orchards and water bodies. The built spaces consist of offices, amphitheatre and a cafe. The journey into the building was designed from the parking via open spaces, nudging people to experience the surroundings before entering the building.

The basement is designed to not be in contact with the ground on the sides. Instead a gap is maintained, so as to keep the basement connected to sunlight and the natural atmosphere, making it not feel like a basement but another floor.

The building orientation was kept along the east west longer axis, making it responsive to the climate. The southern side has contours to reduce heat gain, with the south west side having a proposed waterfall to cool the incoming wind. The roof of the building is also tilted to the south to make use of installed renewable energy systems.

Keywords

Passive design strategies, water body, earth berm, island building, solar roof, renewable energy systems, green building design, farming, self-sustainable

Project year

2018

Project location

Gujarat

Area of design

4300 sq. mtr.

The project brief for the Nirvana farmhouse was to use two adjacent plots of land to convert the site into a weekend home and a stud farm.

The layout of the residential part was designed for independent access of the servants to service areas in the owner’s absence, without invading personal spaces and thus ensuring security. The built part of the house was kept as a solid form to avoid any visibility from outside. The front facade was also kept blank. The entry porch was designed for double height with an exposed brick facade. The north side of the house was kept at double height for indirect light. The south facade was given a perforated screen to cut the harsh south sun, but main indirect lighting.

The ground floor was given a multipurpose room with a party deck area. One part of the floor can be air conditioned, while the other is open to the atmosphere. This open area has a swimming pool as well. The first floor was given bedrooms with viewing decks to the stud farm and horse sheds.

Keywords

Vacation home, weekend villa, farm house, luxury, leisure, modern architecture, passive strategy, integration/relationship with human and non-human

Project year

2021 (ongoing)

Project location

Sanand, Gujarat

Area of design

1240 sq. mtr.

Vrindavan is a combination of a weekend house, a guest house and an outhouse, designed with the intent to also serve a car museum and having a dense green feel to it. The location of the house is at the diagonally extreme end of the plot so that it is not directly visible from the entrance or the road.

The entry road is designed to have tree lines on both sides, giving the traveller a dense, forest type feel when entering. This entry road directly leads to the basement parking area, from where a person may access specific areas of the house. The outhouse is designed for various recreational activities like basketball, badminton, tennis and so on.

The house itself is designed to be divided into owner and guest parts with no direct access to each other. In the center is the parking space which doubles as a car museum which can be viewed from either living space. The built part is surrounded by a water body which is viewable from all angles of the house. While all built spaces are separate, there is an overarching super structural roof element which makes the whole house look like a single entity. The surrounding greenery has orchards like the Tulsi orchard which has 4 to 5 species of Tulsi.

Keywords

Luxury, leisure, forest, artificial water body, exquisite experience, sports

Project year

2021

Project location

Thol area, Gujarat

Area of design

819 sq. mtr.

The vision behind the design of this clubhouse is to create a self-sustained environment embedded with nature and aimed at giving peace to those who come here.

This clubhouse has a G+2 stepped form architecture, with the main structure made of rubber wall, while the inner parts have glass facades to allow maximum inner viewability. The building orientation is such that a large portion of the inner area is shaded from the harsh sun. Yet in order to allow regulated sunlight, the front facade has louvres while the roof structure is made of bamboo embedded in a mild steel frame. This passive energy strategy allows for saving in cooling costs while enhancing the building aesthetic. The architecture also allows for ventilation and air circulation making it more energy efficient.

On the ground floor is a bonzai garden on the outside in the front, and a zen garden and a swimming pool at the back, in order to create an isolated thematic environment for anyone to be in. The ground floor also houses a library, a lounge and an indoor games area.

The first floor has a gym and yoga area, while the second floor has a cafe. The second floor also has a deck which extends into a tall tree, giving that space a tree house feel.

Keywords
Leisure, luxury, clubhouse, hospitality

Project year
2021 (ongoing)

Project location
Ranchhodpura, Gujarat

Area of design
10,645 sq. ft.

The design of this clubhouse is aimed at a union of sharp angularities and seamless transitions from location to location, material to material and space to space.

The clubhouse has been designed as a G+1 unit, having steep angles for all elements like the roof, facade walls, ramps, deck areas and so on, in congruence to the site’s own angular nature. The main entrance has a water body and a fountain integrated with the main signage wall. Near the entrance is the main ramp leading upto the clubhouse, under which is housed the main underground water tank. The proximity of the entrance water body and this underground tank has made the associated piping and civil work minimal.

The entrance ramp itself is designed using concrete and wood, with a railing detail which makes its merger with the architecture look seamless. Along a part of this ramp is a set of slanting monolithic structures creating a dynamic spatial perception. The ramp also has seating spaces in the middle of its length, designed to merge with the slope.

The ramp leads directly to the first floor housing the cafe and services, from where a person can go down to the gym via a floating staircase. Extended from the cafe is a viewing deck designed to overlook the main lawns on one side and a swimming pool on the other.

Keywords
Leisure, luxury, clubhouse, hospitality

Project year
2020 (ongoing)

Project location
Ranchhodpura, Gujarat

Area of design
30,735 sq. ft.