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Aalloa Hills, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

3200 sqft [2012 – 2015]

A nuanced notion of form and scale skirting the edges of

the ravines of a river in Gandhinagar, The Perch at Aalloa

Hills perceptually illustrates an ideology and aesthetic

sensitive to the context.

“In a rare instance of an architect allowed to choose a site

for a project, we were asked to do so by the client for his

dream weekend residence in the Aalloa Hills development.

Looking around at the probable sites, we found this

seemingly ‘unbuildable’ site very exciting and challenging

and recommended it to the client. The client, giving it a

momentary thought, readily agreed!,“ reveal the architects,

about the reticent landscape of 1.03 acres with endemic trees

fringed on the descending slopes which nestles The Perch.

On a solitary edge in the ravines of Sabarmati River,

permeable to all elements of nature, The Perch over 3,200

sqft is positioned, eponymic to its character. Decked on

a platform, it grows from the flowing morphology of a

mesa, rising above the landscape to the plateaued apex.

JMA DESIGN COLLABORATIVE, AHMEDABAD

Principal Architect:
Mehul Bhatt + Jigna Desai

Project Team:
Sanal + Brinda Pancholi Desai
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5
2

LEGEND
1. APPROACH ROAD
2. GARDEN COURT
3. LOWER COURT
4. LIVING DINING UNIT
5. BEDROOM SITE PLAN

ISOMETRIC VIEW

An approach road from the northwest leads to a coupling

of detached units along the periphery in the northeast,

LVL. +00
preluded by a garden for one and a lower court for the other.

In many ways, swerving to the precipices defines not only

LVL. +100 2 these forecourts and the boundaries but rationally, tends to
LVL. +250

1 diminish any untoward excavation in the terrain.

3

4
7
8 5
LVL. +900
4 LVL. -350

LVL. -500

6
LVL. -650
9
LVL. -800

LEGEND :
1. FOYER
. LIVING / DINING 5
LVL. -650
3. KITCHEN
4. TOILET 4
5. BEDROOM
6. VERANDAH
7. DECK 7
8. GARDEN COURT
UNITS LAYOUT 9. LOWER COURT

UNITS LAYOUT
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SECTION CC 1

Embracing the periphery of the site, The Perch is contained in two split
Closely located yet conveniently isolated from each other,
volumes cantilevered over the sloping ravine. the units are poised on flat parcels of land offering northward

and eastward views into the valleys. Lightly each sits on steel

decks, amidst swards of grass, easing into the sheer profile of

the hillside. The owners, a family vested in a denim garments

design and manufacturing, enjoy these as a refuge from the

chaos of the cities. A simple programme of living spaces,

dining & kitchen, two bedrooms and concomitant services

caters to their needs – the immediacy of the first unit is

organised for the more public spaces and then it retreats into

the second unit for the more private sleeping areas.

SECTION DD 1
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A forecourt greets the visitor before the pathways diverge into the Random rubble masonry enclosures delineate the service core and
Of particular significance in the primeval concept is to blur
public and private realm. verandahs for both structures. together a series of binaries, ‘the manmade and the natural’,

and ‘the public and the private’. With the orientation, it

gradually presents a collective vision of the ‘curating’ – a

smooth transition ‘with designed and controlled greens’ to

a more respectful and materialistic representation of the

context. Further, random rubble stone masonry structures

serving as connecting verandahs or service core for the

kitchens and toilets, act as the prima facie engagement

to the fragmented massing. At this level, the ensemble

resembles more of a walled embankment than a house; the

pathways wind around it to choreograph a mediated dialogue

with the low-slung volumes within.

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Above: The verandah extends to the abutting deck comprising of the Aloft on cantilevered steel decks, virtually square in plan,
living spaces. one of the units opens out to the vistas by means of its

living spaces; the other equally conversing with the nature

Facing page top: The restrained interventions in the landscape follow
in its L-shaped arrangement. A sense of openness seems
the morphology of the hill.
characteristic to the interiors; light infused in the continuous

spaces through skylights and large stretches of fenestrations

on the outer edge, allowing the areas to be fully open. An

elementary selection furnishes the interiors.

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Light filters in through the allocated skylights and openings. Keeping to the essentials, the interaction is reassuringly selection in this project,” mention the architects,” was

non-assertive is every way possible. While the palette is governed by their recoverability /recyclability.” Working with

versatile with RCC for the foundations, ‘M.S. sections the predicaments of a remote site and its contingencies, the

and random rubble stone masonry, with minimal RCC for the efficacy of the design emerges in the way it processes the

foundations (i.e. piles and anchor beams)’, the skin of the making ‘an assembly of elements rather than materials and

units composed of ‘MS framing and fibre cement boards, construction’ such that they can be easily dismantled and

sloping roof forms of pre-coated sheet roofing with mud rolls leave the site intact.

as insulation’, the composite framework intervenes minimally

into the landscape. “Construction and demolition are closer

to each other than we want to believe and in this perspective,

one of the most important challenges of sustainability is

on one hand the constant need for resources to make new

buildings and on the other hand the constant waste the

demolition produces. Therefore, our approach to materials

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The architecture of The Perch espouses a gentler, alternate

Above: The volumes are spacious and offer vantage views from the
path. An explicit set of forms navigating the endowments northward and eastward directions.

and demands of a hillside landscape with the duality of

a transparent/opaque shell. Against the scenery, the role Facing page: A light-footed, skeletal framework supports the
cantilevered deck.
of architecture tacitly shrinks to that of an observer, a

distinctive extension to the existent.

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SECTION AA

Next page: Blending in as a response to the natural context and

views around, the house develops to bestow simple pleasures of a
relaxed weekend getaway for its inhabitants.

SECTION BB
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Product & Material Applications

Roofing > Tata Bluescope

Cladding > SheraBoard

Tiles > Shilp Ceramics

Colour > Asian Paints

Sanitaryware > Cera – Shilp Ceramics

Bath Fittings > Jaquar – Shilp Ceramics

Furniture > Fabindia, Ahmedabad; TDW

Furnishing > Fabindia, Ahmedabad

Roller Blinds > Dynamic Arts & Crafts

Kitchen Sink > Nirali – Shilp Ceramics

Ply > Greenlam – Fulchand Mistry

Veneer > Centuryply – Fulchand Mistry

Laminates > Greenlam, Fulchand Mistry

Stone > Kota, Himmatnagar Red

Air Conditioning > Daikin

Roof Insulation > Mud Rolls – Hunnarshala, Bhuj

Key Contributors

Structural Design > Benchmark Consultants

Civil Contractor > Samir Constructions

Façade > Samir Constructions

Landscape Design > Iora Studio

Photography Credits

Samir Pathak