Tiny House

Tiny House takes up very little of its land. On a 40-cent plot in Santhanpara, Idukki, the house covers about seven per cent of the ground and leaves the rest to grass and trees. The plan is almost square, about eleven metres a side, yet it holds four bedrooms over two floors. Warm exposed-brick volumes sit against grey and white plaster, all held under a deep, thin roof slab that reaches out to form a shaded porch.

That overhang does the hard work of a tropical house: it keeps rain off the walls, shades the openings and gives the family an outdoor room at the front door. The sit-out runs along the front, with a timber bench at one end and a planter set into the floor at the other. The windows are framed in timber, with glass above and timber louvres below, and an open terrace upstairs keeps the house in touch with the garden.

A deep, thin roof slab does the hard work of a tropical house.

Inside, the day rooms follow one another. The sit-out opens into the living room, which turns into a long dining room at the centre of the house. Between the living room and the kitchen, a small courtyard with a tree brings green and daylight to the dining table. Beside the main kitchen is a separate fire kitchen. The stair rises from the dining room to two more bedrooms, a balcony and open terraces.

The upper floor is less than half the size of the ground floor, so most of the house lies under one long, thin roof, with a smaller block set on top. The palette is short: brick, two tones of plaster, white slabs and timber. Each material has a job. The brick gives the bedroom volumes their warmth, the white slabs make the shade, and the timber goes where hands touch. The house is now built. The images show the design as drawn.