Kumar La Noce Adds Perforated and Functional Metal Facade To This Apartment in Bangalore

Light Blue perforated metal screen filters daylight into the street facing front side of the JP Apartment in Bangalore designed by architecture and design firm, Kumar La Noce. This calibrated metal facade diffuses balanced light and shade to the house throughout the year. Built on a compact 180 sqm plot, the house is distributed on three levels and includes two interconnected apartments; living, working and studio spaces for the family of an illustrator on two levels, and the ground floor housing their elderly parents. The firm has shared detailed info about the project with SURFACES REPORTER (SR). Read on:

Also Read: Metals in Facade

Situated in Bangalore, JP house gives a distinctive look amongst its neighbourhood buildings owing to its perforated metal facade that screens the entire apartment.

Composed as two planes set at differing angles, the screen is perceived differently depending on the sky it is reflecting, sometimes a solid plane, sometimes a translucent skin. Incorporating a system of operable panels, this screen allows the house to breathe and respond to the flows of nature, daylight and conditions outside.

Spatial Organization

The daytime spaces, including a double height living area, are oriented towards the eastern street side of the site, filtered by the screen, while the night time spaces overlook a lush public garden on the west side.

Classic Stark White Palette With Wood and Cement Textures

The interiors feature a stark palette: White walls, Polished cement and minimal wooden accents. 

A bold exception comes in the form of a teal-coloured sky-lit stairway, seemingly watercolour rendered, travelling through the different levels and adding a striking yet soothing highlight to the spaces.

The daughter’s bedroom on the first floor features a balcony created as a micro version of the front façade, a cosy pod extending into the tree canopy.

The top floor of the house has a music studio and drawing studios for the clients. Between the studios, sliding glass doors lead to an open to sky court and a stairway leading to the rooftop terrace.

This floor offers itself to different possibilities, as an event space, space for workshops or for play.

Also Read: Architectural and Interior Design | Wood, Concrete and Cantilevers Animate Inside Out House by Modo Designs

Breathable Facade

The perforated metal façade is envisioned as a “filigree”; it incorporates simple but sophisticated detailing to retain the ‘lightness ‘of the element, while using readily available metal sections.

The custom screen system was realised through a close collaboration with a fabricator, who has a passion for detail in metal working. An exercise in balancing performance with minimal, essential and rugged detailing, craft plays a role here as much as engineering.

Architecturally, the façade is designed to expand the living areas of the house beyond their walls.

From inside, the deck enclosed by the screen becomes an extension of the family’s activities and their moods: opening fully to the theatre of the street outside, selectively or closed entirely to create a private space washed in dappled light, suspended between inside and outside. 

Stand Out On a Dense Urban Block

From the street, the house becomes an interesting and sometimes provocative addition to the series of houses that line both sides, packed tightly alongside each other. The parameters that structure this project and site are common to most dense urban residences in cities like Bangalore. 

Concerns like security and privacy need consideration as much as light, ventilation and energy efficiency. The firm approached this brief with an intent to create a framework for enduring luxury in domestic space not defined by the cost of materials used but through natural light, quality of space and adaptability by the inhabitants.

Project Details          

Other participants

About the firm

Kumar La Noce is an Indo-Italian Architectural practice founded in Bangalore, India in 2012 by Bhavana Kumar and Nicola La Noce. The studio has worked on projects of various scales including residential, educational, art installations, interior and urban design since its inception.

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