OF THE THERAIN (page 3)

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Lighting Constitutes a very significant part of all Rajeev's projects. In fact, maximising natural light and working with inside-outside seamlessness seems part of his repertoire. Here too, special emphasis is laid on lighting. Suspended wooden tracks are a source of artificial lighting in all the rooms. All the lights whether table lamps, cove cold cathode lights or spots are controlled through a "Lutron' based lighting management system that helps create mood settings. The air conditioning is VRV based centralized system. The entire design is such that all the openings are North or South oriented with deep overhangs, and thus, minimizing solar gain in summer.

Similarly, the aesthetic vocabulary is ingrained with the materiality. The house is clad in a rough laterite stone while the vault is covered in metallic slate stone shingles. All the windows are large sheets of glass facing North or South and protected by projecting deep roof overhangs. This protects the large glazed walls as well as provides transition decks between the rooms and gardens. The floors in the public spaces are in stone and the bedrooms in timber. The decks and terraces are also in timber, extending the internal room floors outwards. The entire furniture and furnishings are custom made by House of Raro, a furniture design company and carefully coordinated with the interior finishing.

For a dynamic architectural firm, each design faces the challenge of pushing some hitherto unexplored territory so that over time a design philosophy evolves.
Using existing technology or materials and evolving new ways of accomplishing something that is beautiful because of its simplicity and functionality, is a key that Rajeev Agarwal Architects have inbuilt in their practise.

(Continues...)

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