Spasm Design Architects

Ishtika House

Ishtika House
© Umang Shah

Ishtika House 

SPASM Design Architects

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Sangeeta Merchant, Shashank Patil, Divyesh Kargathra, Sanjeev Panjabi

STRUCTURAL CONSULTANTS
DUCON Consultant Private Limited

MEP CONSULTANTS
DUCON Consultant Private Limited

CARPENTRY
Krishna Interiors

POOL CONSULTANTS
Flow Dynamics Private Limited

METAL FABRICATION
Om Engineering

LANDSCAPE CONSULTANTS
Professional Landscape Consultant

MANUFACTURERS
Amaze Marbles, B&B Italia, Defurn, Ditre Italia, FLOS, Flex Form, Fusion Access, Sound smith, West Elm

LEAD CONTRACTOR
Eleven Engineers

PHOTOGRAPHS
Umang Shah

AREA
15078 ft²

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
Ahmedabad, India

CATEGORY
Houses

This unique project realizes itself as a negotiation between outward views and introverted planning.

Ishtika House
© Umang Shah
Ishtika House
© Umang Shah

The project houses a multigenerational family and staff in a gated compound. The test was to have each living, sleeping, and entertainment space open to the outdoors without privacy loss.

The principal big idea was to encircle the otherwise fragmented layout with a clean box-like veil of vertical brick jaali.

Ishtika House
© Umang Shah
Ishtika House
© Umang Shah

The center of the home is a three-floor tall courtyard void. This courtyard has a mesh pavilion to release the heat stack, hanging plants, a misting system, and a pergola to shade from the searing Ahmedabad sun.

As a jaali, the brick veil allows air to flow through, facilitating convectional cross-ventilation and keeping the home breathing.

Ishtika House
© Umang Shah
Ishtika House
© Umang Shah

Local stones, salvaged wood, and indigenous plants combine with retractable sliding shutters to operate the house like a living machine, protecting the living spaces from dust, rain, and arid hot winds.

This home allows for the diagonal flow of filtered daylight through the year and movement, interwoven between indoor, outdoor, and in-between experiences.

Ishtika House
© Umang Shah
Ishtika House
© Umang Shah
Ishtika House
© Umang Shah

Though the lot is rather tight and the home compact, it affords a rather pleasurable life in close connection with nature, making it an endearing success.

A sense of domesticity and privacy is achieved much like the erstwhile Jaisalmer havelis.

Ishtika House
© Umang Shah


Ishtika House
© Umang Shah
Ishtika House
© Umang Shah
Ishtika House
© Umang Shah
Ishtika House
© Umang Shah


Ishtika House
Section EE
Ishtika House
Section JJ
Ishtika House
South Elevation
Ishtika House
East Elevation


Ishtika House
Plan - Basement
Ishtika House
Plan - Ground Floor
Ishtika House
Plan - 1st Floor
Ishtika House
Plan - Roof

Spasm Design Architects
T +91 8928126120 F +91 22 26733287
Spasm Design Architects
W, 310, Raheja Plaza, opposite Yashraj Studio, Shah Industrial Estate, Off New Link Rd, Industrial Area, Andheri West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400053, India