Nested on a narrow, quiet, old cul-de-sac street of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, the Stone-Print Villa is reincarnated to match the old charm of the neighborhood. What was once a large living quarter occupied by related members of a mercantile community now stands as a segregated smaller residential place. Holding strong onto their ancestral land, the occupants of Stone-Print Villa wanted to emancipate their reverential association with the property in an extremely bold and visible manner through the facade.
Known for crafting immersive and functional authentic spaces, New Delhi-based SIAN Architects encapsulated the dynamism of the bygone stone-print oomph into the Stone-Print Villa. Architects Surbhi Singhal and Deepanshu Arneja created the structure by unfolding its aesthetic appeal into the occupant’s unyielding connection with their home. Intermingle of two Indian natural stones have been weaved in together to bring out a similar yellow tone through the house.
Use of Bold Materials
Polished, rough, mango and pale-yellow samples were sourced out of the same base materials to explore cladding possibilities. To achieve textural rough surfaces, the stones were processed with varying degrees of sand blasting techniques. When mixed with resin, the chips from the base stone led to a flexible stone-resin prototype.
The helped for micro-detailing and ornamentations such as a heavily embellished plinth composed of stone-resin panels cut in stepped patterns, continuously wrapped around the masonry. It was cladded with a comparatively pale sand-blasted version to distinguish the upper story, which fashioned an overarching and powerful presence on the street. Complementing the scale of the house, the terrace was exaggerated to an almost unacceptable boundary with stone cladding with a warm-toned elevation.
SIAN ARCHITECTS is an architecture practice based in New Delhi and Meerut, India. Established in the year 2017, SIAN is a collaboration between Surbhi Singhal and Deepanshu Arneja, working in the fields of architecture, interior design, and material innovation. With their practice they aim to produce a clear architecture that differentiates evident spaces with attention to detail and materiality, invariably relating to the capacity of architecture to contain the activities of daily life often achieved in stringent budget and site constraints.
Project Details
Project Name: Stone-Print Villa Architecture Firm: Sian Architects Location: Meerut, Uttar Pradesh Area: 3,600 sqft Year of Completion: 2020/2021 Lead Architects: Ar Surbhi Singhal and Ar Deepanshu Arneja of SIAN Architects Design Team: Sian Architects; Contractors: V. L. And Sons And Design Excelsior Photography: Niveditaa Gupta
At Stone- Print villa, a residential facade is unexpectedly pushed to a monumental status.
The occupants of the Stone-Print Villa asked for an aesthetic that doesn’t shy away, has a powerful presence and unfolds as an artefact representing their unyielding connection with home.
Hand-Crafted and 3D-Printed Motifs on the Façade
To set up the facade, the architects decided to retain the existing structure and approach it as a canvas that could be cladded. The facade is designed as an art piece to pull off the envisioned idea effortlessly.
The facade is artistically beautified with numerous handcrafted and 3D-printed motifs inspired by the heritage of the residence, such as floral plates on the parapet and the boundary wall, peacock motifs, terrace corbels, and columns. The architects have marvelously balanced the structure by ornamenting it in a way that would only appear from specific vantage points on the street and within the building, thereby not overwhelming viewers.
The Stone-Print Villa is a structure of fine balance between varied concepts and materials, which is seamlessly patterned in art and architecture, thereby echoing the shiny urbanity of Meerut alongside the vibe of the old neighbourhood.
"Apart from the bold material choice, the facade is designed as an art piece to achieve the envisioned imageability and presence."