A Riverside Kerala Home Where the Glass Facade Brings Stunning Views Indoors
A striated concrete wall functions as a feature wall with an entrance to the private areas of the home on the first floor, accessible from the sloping terrain by a bridge lined with trees and shrubbery. Photo: Syam Sreesylam/Thought Parallels
On the banks of the Chaliyar river, 12km away from Kozhikode in Kerala, is the home of an NRI couple who too parted with the concrete jungle for something closer to the real thing—a lush, 6-acre plot of land. What was meant to be a weekend home turned into a secluded escape for the family in the year of lockdowns and social-distancing.
The glass façade of this Kozhikode home reflects the dynamic scenery through the day. Photo: Syam Sreesylam/Thought Parallels
The 2,220-square-foot glass-and-concrete structure, topped by a wing-shaped inverted roof of lightweight steel and wood, peeks out from this vegetation and quietly puts on a show. “Like a mirror, the structure reflects the sky, river and greenery. Solar-reflective glazing creates a unique ocular experience: a façade that shape-shifts as day morphs into dusk,” the architects explain.