Architecture studio Archiopteryx has created a home in Noida, India, which is arranged around water collection and topped with a rooftop swimming pool.
Called The People Tree House, the home was designed for medical entrepreneurs and stands above a clinic that occupies the basement and ground floors.
Above the clinic, the home is arranged around a central cylinder that contains an elevator and spiral staircase, which rises through the building to a rooftop swimming pool.
The house has been carefully designed to control sunlight exposure throughout the year and to collect and utilise rainwater.
A curved ramp on the roof, along with balconies containing pools and planters, was designed to collect rainwater. Five solar panels extend the spiral motif into the skyline.
“The building generates energy, recycles water and irrigates planted areas to nurture life, in tradition with age-old water-harvesting techniques,” the studio told Dezeen.
The water is collected in a tank at an upper level, which is connected to a rainwater manhole below ground with a bright red pipe that runs through the middle of the house – at points functioning as a staircase handrail.
“Taking inspiration from the Amber Fort and its harvesting methods, the People Tree House channelises rainwater runoff,” said Archiopteryx.
“Water is released from the upper level tanks, under gravity, via drip irrigation pipes,” the studio continued. “When required, stored water is diverted to the home’s upper levels, creating a cycle of collect-irrigate-store-reuse.”
The home was arranged over four floors with a kitchen, living space and bedroom on the first level and two en-suite bedrooms above.
The third floor, which contains the swimming pool, has a further two bedrooms, while a study is located on the mezzanine level above.
Throughout the home, openings, skylights and cutouts were designed to fill the spaces with natural light.
“The building focuses on the effects of nature and the natural, on form and function, and on the quality of life of the human being,” the studio explained.
While the main structural walls were made from exposed stone, the curved walls of the stairwell were finished with stained plaster coated with coconut oil.
The flooring and exterior was clad with Indian white marble and yellow sandstone to “compliment the earthy colour palette”.
Noida, in Uttar Pradesh, is a planned satellite city of Delhi and part of the National Capital region of India. The city is organised as a series of rectilinear tree-lined transportation grids.
The People Tree House is built on one such plot and is surrounded by neighbouring buildings on three sides.
Other recent Indian projects featured on Dezeen include a concrete villa in Delhi with a plant-covered roof by Studio Symbiosis and the Museum of Art & Photography in Bangalore by Mathew & Ghosh Architects.
The photography is by Andre J Fanthome of Studio Noughts & Crosses.
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