living room and home temple

House of
lightwells

Duplex house for a close knit family in Bangalore

Scope
Residential architecture, Renovation, Interior design
Details
Location: Jayanagar 9th Block, Bangalore
Built-up area (duplex): 2000 sft
Plot size: 30' x 40'

About
Year: 2022
A renovation project for a young couple and their baby girl, to combine 2 house floors into one duplex home unit with spaces curated for the hobbies, interests and requirements of each of its unique family members.
In an existing building snugly fit between four storey residential buildings on three sides and a busy street on the fourth, we decided to turn to the skies to give this house its fair share of natural light and ventilation.
recreation room to staircase entrancemain staircase kota stone combination
The lightwells
The compact existing 2BHK unit on the second floor of this building had a small skylight to let natural light into the living spaces of the house. Our design theme expanded on this very feature of the house, while combining the 2BHK unit with the studio unit on the terrace floor, to create a duplex house for the family.
Scroll below, to see how this skylight is being converted into a sky-lit staircase which will now be the heart of the House of Lightwells.
house of lightwells main staircasemain staircase of the house of lightwellsmother and daughter using staircaseskylight visible from recreation roomrecreation room to staircase entrancemain staircase kota stone combinationrailing carpentry detail
The living areas
The living room will now look into a spacious kitchen, the home-office and the central lightwell of the house. A single homogenous unit, the living areas will keep the close-knit family in close proximity to one another while they go about their everyday activities.
Living room of the house of light wellsman and dog in the living roomliving room view from insidechild walking past a staircaseclock in living roomclient using space under the staircaseview of entrance from bedroomlightwell with sunlight to the staircase
LIVING AREA BEFORE RENOVATION
living room picture old
The Terrace
One half of the open terrace was converted into a home office, and the other into a open air terrace garden.
The home office was designed to face the coveted tree which is home to several parakeets and other birds, which make working at the desk a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
terrace gardenterrace with plants and mangalore tiles roofterrace gardenlounging in the terrace gardenterrace with jaali bricks on the sidesa child's workspacefather and daughter working together on his tablefather and daughter working together in the home officechild's workspace
TERRACE SPACE BEFORE RENOVATION
terrace picture oldterrace picture old
The Temple
The balcony from the existing second floor house was converted into a home-temple, or 'Puja room'. With the fresh morning light coming from the east, the temple is the first sight the family enjoys every morning.
puja room settingliving room and home templefinishes inside the puja room-home templehome temple door made of teak wood and fluted glasspuja room windowteak wood and fluted glass combinationpuja room from outsideHouse of light wells from the outside
PUJA ROOM PREVIOUSLY USED AS A BALCONY
balcony picture oldbalcony old
The kitchen
The existing kitchen was clubbed with the existing utility, and the bathroom of the old bedroom converted into the new utility. To suit the new airy and open vibe of the house, the kitchen was remodelled in a minimal black and white theme, to make the kitchen one with the rest of the house.
house of light wells kitchenkitchen view from the living roomlight wells kitchen
KITCHEN BEFORE RENOVATION
kitchen oldkitchen before renovation
The bathroom
Adding on to the existing bathroom and using the empty ceiling to create a skylit showering experience, the new terrace bathroom is indeed now a salient feature of the House of Lightwells. Scroll ahead to witness the transformation!
bathroom skylight view
renovated bathroombathroom accessories viewbathroom entrance with skylight
BATHROOM BEFORE RENOVATION
bathroom picture oldbathroom old
The bedrooms
The two bedrooms of the second floor unit were combined into one big bedroom with a walk-in closet and private balcony.
bedroom set upbedroom with child on the beddressing unit in bedroombed room extended to accommodate a walk-in closet and utilitycorridor to living roombedroom walk in closet and utility balconybedroom sleeping space
BEDROOM BEFORE EXPANSION
bedroom before renovationbedroom entrance before renovation
Play & Recreational space
The studio apartment on the terrace floor was integrated into the duplex unit, and connected by the central staircase. The space is now being used as the kid's play room and a recreational space by the family.
recreation space adjacent to play spacerecreation and play room
STUDIO APARTMENT INTEGRATED INTO THE DUPLEX
bedroom old
Process and construction
bathroom wall brick workskylight open to sky before grillspuja room in balconystaircase woodwork in processstaircase in the makingbathroom after tilingstaircase lightwellterrace room entrance constructionstaircase and partition work in progresspuja room close to finishinglightwell thumbnail portraitworkspace on terrace in the making
The transformation
A series of representational collages and drawings that show the renovation work that took place in the house.
section overlay 1section overlay 2

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

SECTIONAL VIEWS
Team
team with clients on sofateam on the staircase
Team
Architects: Netra Ajjampur, Murtaza Dhilawala, Abhishek Durani, Karthik VG
Photography: Karthik VG, Sreeram K
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