Ishatvam 9 is a residential building on a small plot of 1800 sqm by Sanjay Puri Architects, a Mumbai based architectural, interior design and town plannin firm. Situated in Ranchi, a city in East India.
Most of the plot frontage along the main road is occupied by an existing petrol pump leaving just a driveway for access with a square shaped space beyond which is buildable upon. The apartments have been designed to occupy a complete floor opening out on all sides with each room extending into twenty feet high, double height decks. Each of the internal spaces thus extends and into private sheltered open spaces.
Temperatures in Ranchi vary from 31 ⁰ C average in the summer months and 12 ⁰ C in the winter months. The extended decks for each room shelter the internal spaces from the excessive heat in the summer while becoming landscaped outdoor extensions to the rooms. Ishatvam 9 is designed in response to the social needs of the residents of the city of its location providing each apartment with 20% open area as extensions to the internal spaces, maximizing on natural light and air with cross ventilation to every room in the house, creating an urban high rise tower that will allow its users the openness of the low rise structures that they have been used to living in.
The apartments are designed with minimal internal circulation spaces with a large living dining area located centrally from which all the rooms are accessed. This layout is done in response to the social habits of the people in the city where 3 generations are generally living together in the same house. The living room becomes the focal place within the house allowing for increased interaction between the various family members. Most of the existing development around the plot being low rise, each apartment has views of the openness of the surroundings in each direction.
Each balcony is partially covered and partially open to sky. This allows the user to sit in the open or in sheltered space depending upon the weather. Ishatvam 9 is designed in response to the social needs of the residents of the city of its location providing each apartment with 20% open area as extensions to the internal spaces, maximizing on natural light and air with cross ventilation to every room in the house.
creating an urban high rise tower that will allow its users the openness of the low rise structures that they have been used to living in. An interesting aspect of the design of Ishatvam 9 in Ranchi is that it has been entirely constructed by a local small time contractor who has earlier only executed only very small projects. In fact, the contractor did not even have an email ID or an office.
