01Front verandah
60′ × 6′A deep verandah takes the west sun before it reaches the living room. The swing came from the family's old house in Kumbakonam.
- Red oxide floor
- Reclaimed Burma teak
Courtyard house
Neelankarai, Chennai · 3,800 sq ft independent house · 2024
The brief
“Three generations under one roof, a courtyard that lets the rain in, and nothing that needs polishing every week.”
The Venkataraman family
- Budget band
- ₹65–80 lakh
- Timeline
- 30 weeks
- Carpet area
- 3,800 sq ft
- Spaces
- 5 drawn here
- City
- Chennai
Materials palette
Red oxide floor
₹150 / sq ft
Reclaimed Burma teak
₹4,800 / cu ft
Athangudi tile
₹165 / sq ft, laid
Lime plaster
₹120 / sq ft
Cane webbing
₹380 / sq ft
Cast brass hardware
₹1,150 a handle
Madras check cotton
₹480 / metre
Room by room
Pick a room on the plan to jump to it.
02Courtyard
16′ × 16′Four teak pillars, a sunken floor six inches down, and a tulsi maadam in the middle. Every room opens onto it.
- Athangudi tile
- Reclaimed Burma teak
- Lime plaster
03Living room
22′ × 18′Low seating for the grandparents' evening visitors, higher chairs for everyone else. Nothing here needs a coaster.
- Athangudi tile
- Cane webbing
- Lime plaster
04Dining
22′ × 12′A ten-seat table from one teak slab. On festival days it pushes against the wall and banana leaves go on the floor.
- Reclaimed Burma teak
- Cast brass hardware
05Main bedroom
22′ × 20′A cane headboard that lets the wall breathe, and a window seat facing the courtyard.
- Cane webbing
- Lime plaster
- Madras check cotton
How it ended
Handed over in November 2024. The courtyard drains 42 mm of rain an hour through two hidden channels.
Book a paid consultation₹3,500 · adjusted against our fee