The Wedge & the Void explores how a compact residential parcel can be transformed through subtraction rather than addition. Set on a narrow six-cent suburban site, the project begins as a simple extruded volume, subsequently carved by a series of strategic voids that mediate light, ventilation, privacy, and spatial continuity.
Rather than treating open space as residual, the project positions the void as an organizing device. Peripheral cuts draw air and daylight deep into the section, while a central atrium operates as the spatial and environmental core of the house, structuring circulation, connecting active living zones, and establishing visual relationships across levels.
The sectional organisation distributes the domestic program vertically, grounding everyday living functions at the lower levels while locating spaces for retreat above. This stacking produces a calibrated transition from the public to the intimate, reinforced through shifts in light, volume, and enclosure.
Conceived as an interplay between mass and subtraction, the project reframes the compact urban house not as a constrained object, but as a porous spatial field shaped by climate, void, and inhabitation.
So the plot is located in a residential cluster in Trivandrum, Kerala.
If you look at the context a little bit more closer,
we have a street on the western side and a built volume in the southern side,
and the other two cardinal directions are left accommodating a vacant plot.
The entry or the access to the house is carefully designed,
where you have one large opening, which is a regular entry,
and also a wicket gate, which is a smaller entry,
which gets into a very small court,
through which you eventually reach the main entry.
The project came to us during a post-COVID time,
where the client had a specific requirement that they need to conduct their work from the comfort of home.
So that was also one of the basic requirements that we tried to address,
and which also reflects in creating the heart of the house.
Because of this specific requirement,
we thought we should take the conventional layout of having a living, dining, kitchen together.
From that, we thought we'll bring the dining as a central space
and place that as the heart of the house.
So by placing the dining in the center and accommodating all these activities,
we also wanted to highlight the volume.
So we deliberately tried to modulate the volume as a double height
and to place a pergola element there to bring in light and ventilation.
So this dining is also flanked by greens, a mini court under the staircase,
and greens which is extending out into the open or the side yards.
Because of this particular design decision, we had a beautiful working title.
Because of the elements we have given there, it is the wedge and the void.
Wedge represents the pergola.
And the void itself symbolizes the dining below.
So there are no significant views from side towards outside.
So the house turns away from the immediate neighborhood to the interior
and look into small little courtyards filled with greens,
which we have kind of developed in the voids of the house.
In this project, we have deliberately tried to keep the ornamentation at a check
in order to enhance the clean lines, the functional importance, and the refined material palette.
If you take a look at the elements such as the windows, the wall, the screens, the pergola,
and even the air vent which we have given between the pergola for the hot air to escape,
the amount of detailing makes it unique and adds individuality to the style we have adopted for the house.
The home is designed to adapt to modern living
and it supports the young IT couple who work from home alongside their family life.
For example, a work corner near the kitchen helps them balance their professional works
with the working day routine.
And also working from this space and the dining area kind of enables flexibility,
togetherness, and also a shared involvement in daily life activity.
We focused on the spatial drama and the light play in the double height volume,
the dining and also other volumes like puja and the living spaces,
which adds a key architectural gesture to both spatially and experiential quality of the whole atmosphere.
So in this project, we have tried to explore a little bit with the tectonics.
Some of the major material contributors were porothum, gypsum plastering.
If you look at the slab and the overall outlook,
you won't be seeing any visible structural element defining any of the spaces.
The bedrooms and bathrooms were designed keeping in mind the ergonomics and the furniture layout.
So what we have tried here is to give long openings in one side and shorter openings adjacent to it,
enabling cross ventilation, better circulation within the layout.
When it comes to the bathroom, we have thought about minimizing the spatial input or the spatial area,
making it into format of 50-90-90, which is considered to be an effective way of using such spaces.
Each bathroom opens out to the outdoors where an opening is given using frosted glass, addressing the privacy as well.
The staircase to the upper floor is designed with care and simplicity.
It is also hidden behind a plain wall featuring a custom abstract of family portrait.
The first flight of steps feels little enclosed and private.
And as you move up, the second flight opens dramatically into a central void.
And it also creates a sense of surprise and it allows the space to be experienced from a new height.
This home is more than just a structure.
It is a calm, refined retreat where a family can live, work, grow and reconnect.
The design focuses on openness with an inward orientation and it prioritizes light and spatial volume over ornamentation.
The home is about how it feels.
Its true success lies in the way people respond to it, the sense of calm it creates, the rhythm it supports and the quiet joy it brings to everyday life.
