HOUSE WITH A POND

In a city like Chennai that has been ravaged by water shortages, floods and droughts in recent memory, with the danger of this pattern becoming increasingly frequent in the face of rising temperatures and sea levels, irregular rainfall and falling groundwater levels, the challenge was to understand how we as designers at SKD could react and proactively adapt to this scenario during the renovation of a single-family house of 5000 s ft located on a half acre plot in South Chennai. This has resulted in a series of sustainable interventions that have been integrated into the aesthetic and architectural quality of the house. This project is all about water – almost a symbol of the city in recent years. It features grey water re-use through phytoremediation and a pond that acts as a landscape element, irrigation source, rainwater catchment and environment for biodiversity rolled into one, green roofs for urban farming and insulation of the space below, bio-retention planters and even a flooring pattern in stone and cement inspired by the meandering Adyar river. Water runoff from all paved areas (all permeable to allow groundwater recharge and reduce the heat island effect) is directly piped into the pond and over flow pit to recharge groundwater. The connection to the natural environment is heightened by means of sit-outs constructed out of timber framed tile roofs.