Grand Designs

This family home in Surat by DesignRitmo showcases how space and volume can add a new dimension to a home.

Led by Dipesh Kheni, DesignRitmo is a design practice that provides holistic architecture and design solutions. For this residential project in Surat, the firm focussed its approach to create this grand 6,790 sqft home for a family of six.

“The situation was interesting, with two sides of the plot serving as the main sources of light and air. That light being strong, the main issue was with cross ventilation and privacy with the surroundings. We needed to find resolutions to these problems for both the envelope and internal environment. But because we were in charge of both interior design and architecture, we could treat one to help the other,” says Kheni.

The firm’s brief from the client included several important parameters, such as eschewing artificial light during daylight hours, garden balconies and a special library. Also, given the plot size, giving the project a sense of scale that exceeded the limitation of the smaller plot was imperative. “If I use the client’s words, ‘When guests come to my house it should feel like a visually large volume,’ which compelled us to scale it up to a visually big building,” Kheni says, explaining the use of tall double and triple-height spaces throughout the house.