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Shalini and Anand Raghavan
Baroda, Guajrat
2022
Built Up : 15,715 sq ft
Courtyards hold the house in balance; between earth and air, retreat and gathering
Designed as a ‘luxurious ashram’, this single-level home is anchored by rammed earth walls crafted with artisans from Hunnarshala. With seven courtyards and two gardens, it balances intimacy and expansiveness, rethinking social spaces for multi-generational living.
House of 7 Courtyards explores the idea of a ‘luxurious ashram’ — a place of grounded living, barefoot intimacy, and expansive openness. Rooted to the ground through rammed earth walls, the home draws its material directly from the land. The soil was gathered along the route from Bhuj to Baroda, the same path the artisans travelled, binding journey and place into construction.
The house unfolds along a 70-meter-long central spine punctuated by seven courtyards and two gardens. Each courtyard holds a distinct energy, shaping spaces that are as much outdoors as indoors. Entry is through a fragrant flower court, followed by a succession of volumes that flow into each other — private rooms, social spaces, a library-like ‘Great Room’, and pavilions open to gardens.
The design embraces multi-generational living: intimate enough for two permanent inhabitants, yet flexible to welcome visiting family. Spaces are fragmentary yet unified, fostering connections while offering privacy. Materials are elemental — exposed concrete, rammed earth, mud plaster — and expressive of authenticity. Courtyards, vaulted pavilions, and layered walls create a home that is as much landscape as dwelling, dissolving boundaries between inside and outside, self and collective.
Shalini and Anand Raghavan
Baroda, Guajrat
2022
Built Up : 15,715 sq ft
Courtyards hold the house in balance; between earth and air, retreat and gathering
