Residence 91 Shows Patterned Brick Façade
Located in Panchkula, India, Residence 91 by Charged Voids is an inward-looking six-bedroom house with patterned brickwork informed by local construction practices. The home features an improvised rat-trap bond, serving both thermal insulation and noise reduction purposes. Owing to the bustling location, this Chandigarh residence is designed with carefully planned recesses that ensure privacy. The design is described as a humble, meditative sanctuary, housing a nine-member family spanning three generations.

Interior-facing design with patterned brick
Charged Voids designed Residence 91 as a multigenerational house in Chandigarh, India, featuring an inward-looking architecture with patterned brick walls. This seven-bedroom house is structured around a central courtyard, allowing the common areas of each floor to extend directly into this space. This design choice reinvigorates the traditional veranda, evoking fond memories for the owner of celebrating life in the courtyard, known locally as “aangan”.

The house’s exterior openings are strategically placed, especially on the upper floors, to achieve a sense of visual and acoustic isolation. These openings did not leave the views to chance. The windows on the second floor have been designed to align with the top of the tree line around the house, while other openings in the cuboidal structure frame the nearby Gurudwara and the distant hills. The larger openings face north, while the smaller ones face south.

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Dynamic spaces and interactions in the courtyard
The first floor of the house includes public spaces such as the living and dining areas, a double-height kitchen with a light well, a separate spice kitchen and a bedroom for the elderly parents. The second floor has bedrooms for the younger couple and their child, as well as a living room and a family kitchen. The second floor has three bedrooms, each with its own outdoor leisure space, while the basement is dedicated to meetings, with a living room, an entertainment area and a guest bedroom.

The central courtyard becomes a submerged patio in the basement, incorporating volumetric changes in height to interact with the interior spaces on the upper floors. On the first floor, it transforms into a semi-covered veranda with a water feature extending from the living room. On the second and third floors, it leads to an outdoor Jacuzzi and covered terraces and gardens. These expansions on each floor create dynamic transitional spaces that allow for more effective interactions between the older and younger generations.

Local materials and thermal insulation
Charged Voids emphasized regional building practices, using composite RCC and locally available bricks for the house. The exposed brickwork employs a makeshift rat-trap bond to create cavity walls that ensure thermal insulation and minimize traffic noise. This traditional brick bond is modified by repositioning singular brick units, resulting in rhythmic patterns on the facades.

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The use of controlled openings in the surroundings and liberal interior open spaces allows the residence to experience the versatility of the courtyard and the dynamic relationship between the occupants and the outdoors. The interior character of the project aims to catalyze family relationships with an exterior that stands out discreetly in its surroundings.






Photography courtesy of Charged Voids
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