Muzaffarnagar’s Hem House: A Functional Yet Calming Retreat
Hem House, designed by Portal 92 in 2022, is located in the bustling town of Muzaffarnagar, India.
This residential-refurbishment and redevelopment project spans an area of 3400 sqm (3,400 sqm). The façade was cleverly reconfigured to give the two asymmetrical residential structures an illusion of oneness. An imposing portico greets visitors as they approach the Hem House and leads into the central common space. The stone and wooden louver details have been carefully designed to imbibe lightness, warmth and create a sense of organized asymmetry. On the exterior, a horizontal stone volume with plants flowing through it serves as an extended balcony and recreational sit-out area.
This house is a face-lift of its former self, crafted with revived meaning, to cohabitate in harmony.
About Hem House
Revitalizing an Asymmetric Structure: The Hem House
Located in the bustling town of Muzaffarnagar, India, the Hem House is a residential-refurbishment and redevelopment project sprawling across 3,400 sqm (35,849 sq ft). The former establishment presented itself as two asymmetrical residential structures, requiring stitching to create an illusion of oneness. Portal 92, the firm behind the design, aimed to achieve this by creating a vague sense of symmetry in an inherently asymmetric system.
A Grand Portico: Making an Entrance
On approaching the Hem House, visitors find a larger-than-life portico that helps ground the structure and draws attention to the common space. This volume pulls the two houses together and cleverly masks the two discrete entrances of each house.
Creating a Sense of Cohesion with Stone and Wood
A horizontal stone volume, with slits for plants to droop through, envelops the first floor. This curtain veil of stone and greens also functions as an extended balcony that opens up to the vast landscaped front. Wooden louver details were carefully designed and fabricated to imbibe lightlessness, warmth, and create a sense of organized asymmetry. Engineered to look delicate, the wooden details contain and engulf planters, create the illusion of supports suspended from the ceiling, and form railings details intersecting with the built.
A Natural Retreat
Adjacent to the landscaped lawn is a recreational sit-out area furnished with volumes carved out and juxtaposed against the site profile. Adorned by natural Thermo-Ash wood and a soft limestone, the space provides a functional yet calming retreat offering respite from the harsh sun.
A New Lease on Life
The Hem House serves as a face-lift of its former self with renewed meaning. It soulfully reshapes the way the residence’s structures and surfaces cohabitate – from the façade’s massive volumes to its ambitious details in modest materials. Much like the act of hemming, the Hem House comprises of spaces that are sewn and stitched into each other – to culminate into a fabric of oneness.
Photography by Niveditaa Gupta
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- by Matt Watts
