If Hampi is to be described in a single word, it would be Majestic. The capital city of the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire still takes your breath away, six centuries after its downfall. Team Grounded took a trip to Hampi from our studio this January. For anyone living in Goa, Hampi is an ideal destination for a road trip, just 6.5 hours away. On day 1, we visited the stunning Virupaksha temple complex and the surrounding Hemakuta hill.

The nine-tiered Gopuram of the Virupaksha in itself is an architectural masterpiece. The temple complex is a must-visit site for every architecture/history enthusiast, with its intricate detailing dating back to the 7th century.

The Virupaksha Temple

The highlight of our day was the stunning sunset from atop the Hemakuta Hill. The play of light over the historic temples nestled amidst the beautiful boulders of the Hampi landscape was simply breathtaking. The evening sun seemed to echo the grandeur of the once magnificent Vijayanagar Empire to its visitors.

Sunset from atop the Hemakutas

Pushkarani at the Krishna temple

The twin Champa trees framing a Hanuman temple.

Immortalizing the moment through art. Sketch by our Ar. Shrunkhala & Intern Prajakta.

Team Grounded at the Hemakuta Hills.

Photograph Credits: Members of the team at Grounded.

Images sourced from Anupama Kundoo

Wall House in Auroville is an experimental house designed by sustainability champion Anupama Kundoo. The architecture employs a play in proportions to create comfortable yet dramatic spatial envelopes. The house is built entirely with locally sourced materials in new, innovative ways to create soothing, earthy spaces that respond to the warm, humid climate.

Wall House is predominantly constructed with the vernacular ‘Achukkal’ brick, once ubiquitous to the building landscape in Tamil Nadu. Known for their unique flat, thin profiles and their distinctive red colour, Achukkal bricks are typically made out of left-over silt that is collected from farmlands around. They are then shaped by hand and fired in clay ovens for strength and stability. The bricks are deemed to be extremely sustainable, given their long life, low cost of production, and the sparing amounts of energy use for manufacturing.

The earthy palette and warm finishes move beyond the brick walls and are found throughout the house. The august clay pot vault above the double-height living space and the innovative filler slab roof above the dining area are particularly worthy of mention.

Each facade of Wall House sports unique fenestrations that bring in fresh air and ample daylight. On one side, a series of louvered windows built out of local mango wood and completed with unpolished granite stone come into sight. On the other side, a series of pivoting ferrocement screens open the house to the verdant landscape around when open, and bring beautiful light and shadow patterns indoors when closed.

The House with Three Pavilions is a sustainable house in Goa, designed and developed by GROUNDED.

The house explores the intimate relationship between the land, its people, water, and the biodiversity that exists in Goa in India. It is designed as a cluster of three pavilions that gently weave around existing trees in an attempt to coexist with nature and to minimize the impact of new construction on virgin land.  

The architecture of the house takes inspiration from the surrounding Goan village houses. Mostly constructed as ground-floor structures, each pavilion attempts to match the volumetrics of its village peers. Throughout, a simple sweeping roof form is used in red terracotta tile that is ubiquitous to the Goan village built-landscape. Proportions are borrowed from doors, windows, and plaster bands of vernacular Goan structures even as a distinct contemporary style is articulated in the design.

With a focus on connection with nature, the materials used in the house are kept subtle and natural. All floors are finished with a natural Indian ‘kota’ stone in a blue-green color that merges with the landscape. Pigmented cement and exposed local ‘laterite’ are used extensively to mirror the rustic countryside character. ‘Teak’ is used for doors and windows to add warmth and rich texture to the interiors. Antique wood columns and stone pedestals are also incorporated to bring a sense of luxury and timelessness throughout.  

The project also prioritises the enhancement of the site’s resources and biodiversity through a comprehensive water-management system which includes a natural seasonal pond connected to a newly planned system of bioswales. This on-site wetland feature harvests rainwater, recharges depleted underground aquifers, and offsets the load on the public drain system. Furthermore, it preserves the pre-existing site habitat. It is a win to see that insects, birds, and animals continue to find the site a safe space even as they come in close contact with the human life around, making this truly a space for all seasons and species.

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We have some much-awaited news!

Grounded will soon be launching 2 new luxury villas for sale in North Goa. Set within beautiful Aldona, the house is surrounded by peaceful green vistas and the rustic charm of the Goan countryside. With expansive living spaces, intimate pockets that look out to the pool, and nearly 3500 sqft of open space, the house seeks to offer seamless indoor-outdoor living. Like all our other residential projects, the villas will be sustainable, architecturally relevant, and closely connected to nature.

To know more about the villas,

Utsav House by Studio Mumbai is a sanctuary of serenity. This elemental yet contemporary house in Alibag by architect Bijoy Jain sensitively makes room for intimate interactions with the surrounding greenery as it effortlessly bridges the indoor with the outdoor. The picturesque scenes and the connections to the tropical context resonate deeply with our values, the natural roots we turn to while designing and building houses in Goa. Built with locally available material and around numerous indigenous trees, Utsav House achieves poetic spaces that have a rustic simplicity without compromising on any of our modern creature comforts. Throughout, the focus is on intentional building and living, through architecture that takes cues respectfully from the terrain and landscapes around.

Images courtesy Archdaily and The New York Times Style Magazine

Visit our previous blogpost on Utsav House here.

Learn more about Bijoy Jain’s Kapadia House, that is now a popular AirBnB here.

Now that you've got this house in Goa, imagine all the things you can do with it to make it your sanctuary. The most wonderful thing about having a house in Goa is being able to enjoy the natural immersion and the seasonal indulgence that comes with it. To us, design is a direct way to enhance comfort, improve quality of living, and create richness in experience within every space.

Design can be simple but generous and luxurious when the right materials and strategies are used. Here are 5 effective ways to create rustic spaces that are designed for barefoot and earthy luxury.

01 Create spacious bathrooms finished with rustic materials that feel great against bare feet.

Find bathrooms designed as sanctuary spaces here.

02 Use a colour palette of subtle shades & tones in neutral monochromatic colours.

Read more about building a neutral palette here.

03 Take advantage of the unique colours, patterns and textures of natural materials.

Learn about using and maintaining wood, lime, and IPS here.

04 Design landscape to mimic a wild landscape as opposed to manicured landscape.

Learn more about natural landscaping and local species here.

05 Practice a bit of wabi sabi where you appreciate and live with site's imperfections and the aging of materials.

Read our blogpost on living with nature.

In part two of 'Building with Rammed Earth', I speak to Donald Sequeira. Donald is an architect, natural builder, and the Director of Gia Mantra Global Village in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India. In this conversation, we take a deep dive into questions from students, practitioners and sustainability enthusiasts to clarify concerns regarding rammed earth as a building material. Through this Q&A session we touch upon various aspects including:

• The Building Process

• Strength of Material

• Potential of Construction

• Climate Feasibility, and

• Maintenance

Here are some interesting questions that we received over the course of the IG Live session:

1. Can a rammed earth structure be built in areas with heavy rain?

   A rammed earth structure can be built in any climatic zone including areas with heavy rainfall. The precaution to be taken is to ensure large overhangs are given to protect the wall from the rain. Additional surface treatments like waxing or plastering protect exterior walls for a longer period.

2. What is the ideal soil type for rammed earth?

   Yes. Rammed earth walls can be built out of most local soils but the clay content should not exceed 30%. If the clay content is higher, the soil can be mixed with other soil types or washed with water to dilute the clay concentration.

3. How are building services addressed?

   The electrical conduits and plumbing must be inserted while ramming. Prior planning is required. Otherwise, services can be added later but those surfaces may require plaster.

4. Are any surface treatments possible?

   Yes, rammed earth walls can be plastered, painted, and tiled over like any other wall. Clear treatments such as wall waxing are also possible.

5. Can river sand be added to the soil mix to reduce the clay content?

   Yes. However, river sand is not ideal because it is not a sustainable source. M-Sand is a good alternative to river sand and can be used as one of the mixture components.

6. Can a 4" rammed earth wall partition wall be created inside a RCC framed structure?

   A 4" rammed earth wall may not be possible since very little space is available for ramming. Furthermore, if the wall is planned beneath a pre-existing beam or a slab, it becomes harder to ram the top portions and close the gap. CSEB is a good alternative for built framed structures.

In this IG Live, I speak to Donald Sequeira. Donald is an architect, natural builder, and the Director of Gia Mantra Global Village in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India. In this first part of our conversation on 'Building with Rammed Earth', we understand the fundamentals. We understand the potential and constraints of rammed earth as a material and learn about preparing the material for construction. We speak about the material's strength and stability and understand construction concerns such as building height and services. We also discuss the durability and maintenance of rammed earth over its lifetime.

Here are some common myths about rammed earth debunked:

• A rammed earth structure can be built in all climatic regions.

  Rammed earth can be used for construction anywhere. It is a breathable but dense material that offers great heat exchange in tropical areas and thermal insulation in extremely hot or cold regions.

• A rammed earth building is durable and has a lifespan greater than concrete.

  Rammed earth structures also possess strength that is at least equal to the strength of concrete. They are extremely sustainable in the long run and require minimum maintenance.

• Rammed earth walls do not have to be very thick and there is no limit to room sizes.

  For a ground floor structure, only a 9" rammed earth wall is required which is equal to the thickness of a brick wall. As long as this criteria is met, it is possible to create spacious rooms of various sizes with rammed earth.

• There is no threat of insects or pests entering the house through the rammed earth walls.

  Once compressed, the rammed earth wall becomes extremely hard and dense. While the material is breathable, it is not not porous. The density does not allow for passages to be made by pests.

The feeling of being inside a rammed earth structure is indescribable. The structure changes with the weather to protect you. It has a quiet, special, womb-like quality - one instantly feels cocooned.

Sustainable building is not as complicated as it sounds. Here are 5 simple practices to adopt while building which offer lifelong benefits and returns:

01. Harvest rainwater for reuse or to restore groundwater. Even a system as simple as a collecting tank makes a difference.

We have a conversation covering the basics of rainwater harvesting. Watch it here.

02 Source and use materials and natural stones that are local to the place.

Read about optimal use of local materials in this article.

03 Preserve existing trees and use native species. Use flowering & fruiting trees & plants to retain the habitat and welcome biodiversity.

Find out more about natural landscaping here.

04 Maximise daylight and cross ventilation by creating openings on at least two sides of a space.

Find out how to connect to the outdoors in this blogpost.

05 Create pathways and hardscape with permeable paving to allow rainwater to reach the ground and replenish the water table.

Learn more about designing outdoor paving here.

The year of 2021, while challenging, also marked several truly special milestones for our practice. We completed our design-build project in Goa, House with Three Pavilions, our countryside house Navovado won a platinum certification from the Indian Green Building Council, we watched our design for a lovely Lake House take physical shape in the picturesque Western Ghats. As a studio, our team has grown and we have been able to share our knowledge in sustainability through a series of Instagram lives and magazine columns with a diverse range of industry experts. As we begin a new year with a clean slate, looking back at the milestones from the year past, our #topnine2021 ! Giving gratitude for all that has been and here's to a wonderful and prosperous 2022!⠀