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House of Silence - Personalized house at Kalalgoda, Sri Lanka by Damith Premathilake Architects

Project name:
House of Silence - Personalized House at School Lane, Kalalgoda
Architecture firm:
Damith Premathilake Architects
Location:
School Lane, Kalalgoda, Sri Lanka
Photography:
Eresh Weerasuriya
Principal architect:
Damith Premathilake
Design team:
Collaborators:
Interior design:
Built area:
4455 ft²
Site area:
Design year:
Completion year:
2019
Civil engineer:
Structural engineer:
Niran Herath
Environmental & MEP:
Landscape:
Damith Premathilake Architects
Lighting:
Supervision:
Visualization:
Tools used:
Construction:
Material:
Budget:
Undisclosed
Client:
Upul Herath
Status:
Built
Typology:
Residential › House

The Colombo-based architecture firm Damith Premathilake Architects has recently completed ''House of Silence'' a single-family home that is located at Kalalgoda, Sri Lanka

Architect's statement: “The Kalalgoda House”, sits on a 14.4 perch land, in the suburb of Colombo known as Kalalgoda, adjoining a serene paddy field. This nature friendly abode brings together nature and architecture to celebrate the beauty of its adjoining paddy field.

Designing on a narrow site was challenging, yet the house is designed for its tropical context to achieve ideal orientation where the front of the land faces the entrance road while the rear faces the endless serene paddy field. It helps to capture natural ventilation that creates a comfortable and cool atmosphere inside the house.

This free flowing and minimalistic dwelling fulfills the desire of the client to connect with nature by borrowing views towards the paddy field to create spectacular vistas. The framed view of the paddy field upon entry, along with the use of cool earthy colours that reflect the greenery of nature, help blur the lines between indoors and outdoors, creating an overall tranquil experience. Therefore, anyone entering the residence will feel that nature is brought into the inner spaces.

Upon entry to the house, a warm garden space paved with red gravel and a few trees creates a pleasing welcome. An elegant shallow pond located at the centre of the house grabs the spotlight onto a unique brick wall. The play of light and shadow on this brick wall during different times of day, adds to the charming ambience of the house. The exposed wall also adds depth and texture while sensibly concealing the fact that it is a blind wall. The pond lighting has been designed to skim the surface of the water, creating a more reflective effect than that would be achieved had the lighting been submerged below the water.

image © Eresh Weerasuriya

The two storied house connects all its internal spaces and opens them into the center double height space with the two modest ‘Dan’ trees rising up from the pond which is partially open to sky. The use of subtle variations used in texture and material finishes varying from reused railway sleepers to exposed brick are used in harmony to create a charming ambience. Colour and material are manipulated in varying degrees to break the monotony at different spaces of the house. This is first evident at the road side view with the entry and garage door accentuated by a porous exposed brick wall which adds identity and character to the house, which the Architect has also used to offer glimpses of the spectacular paddy field beyond the house to those passing by.

Moreover, the use of Ivory coloured Titanium floors inside, coupled with elements made of timber have enhanced interior illumination while creating a minimalistic yet pleasant atmosphere. The use of vertical timber screens for some of the bedroom windows ensures privacy for the user while also providing the space with unhindered natural ventilation.

The careful incorporation of existing trees and terraces in upper levels create interesting spaces adorned with tree canopies from the site, allows provision to enjoy the relaxing view and feel the soothing winds blowing across the paddy field. Visual effects and spatial flow are incorporated for comfortable living throughout the two levels of the house, while considering the human scale to create a sense of intimacy and aesthetically pleasing contemporary tropical abode.

car parked in the front garage of the house image © Eresh Weerasuriya

a tree inside the house patio image © Eresh Weerasuriya

sunlight hitting the plants through skylight in the roof image © Eresh Weerasuriya

skylight in the roof let the natural lights enter the room image © Eresh Weerasuriya

living room with open windows to the terrace image © Eresh Weerasuriya

staircase with parquet finishing image © Eresh Weerasuriya

trees grown inside of the house near brick wall image © Eresh Weerasuriya

living room with indoor garden image © Eresh Weerasuriya

a tree grown inside the living room image © Eresh Weerasuriya

kitchen with great landscape view image © Eresh Weerasuriya

modern kitchen with large windows image © Eresh Weerasuriya

kitchen design with hanging lamps image © Eresh Weerasuriya

House of Silence - Personalized house at Kalalgoda, Sri Lanka by Damith Premathilake Architectsimage © Eresh Weerasuriya

large skylight in the ceiling let the sunlight enters the home image © Eresh Weerasuriya

a big tree can be seen through bedroom windows image © Eresh Weerasuriya

bathroom with skylight in the roof image © Eresh Weerasuriya

modern bathroom with washing basins image © Eresh Weerasuriya

cozy bedroom image © Eresh Weerasuriya

the dor to the backyard image © Eresh Weerasuriya

backyard garden image © Eresh Weerasuriya

outdoor garden image © Eresh Weerasuriya

terrace with nice view image © Eresh Weerasuriya

tree grown in the terrace image © Eresh Weerasuriya

house surrounded by nature image © Eresh Weerasuriya

the house with illumination at night image © Eresh Weerasuriya

House of Silence - Personalized house at Kalalgoda, Sri Lanka by Damith Premathilake Architectsimage © Eresh Weerasuriya

night view of the house image © Eresh Weerasuriya

car in the garage image © Eresh Weerasuriya

Ground Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Roof Floor Plan

architectural sections drawing

elevations


By Naser Nader Ibrahim

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