BM house extension is a proposal for adding a recreation area to an existing house in Vadodara. The family being classical music and theatre enthusiasts, had a requirement of a large amphitheatre along with a small pool and deck space.
The site is very large, covered with rolling hills. The siting of the recreation zone was very important to the beginning of the project. Considering the morphology of the amphitheatre and depth needed for a pool a sharp valley near the existing house was chosen, such that the existing contours could be used to build. An existing bridge connected the two mounds crossing over the valley.
Towards the north of the site where the valley drops at its sharpest is where the amphitheatre is located, stepping down to the lowest contour with the stage located just before the base columns of the bridge. There is a small control room at the back of the amphitheatre tuck under the lawns above it and there are two rooms on its either side of the stage, one used as a washroom and shower for the pool and the other as a green room for the amphitheatre. On the other side is the pool, with decks on its either side towards the mounds. There is a small bar also located to the east of the pool. Existing winding steps approach the pool area from the existing house in the west, whereas a more formal staircase is added towards the eastern mound, which would be a location for a future larger farmhouse.
The walls are imagined to be these dark and massive stone planes holding both the mounds back. The amphitheatre base is a similar material, almost as if the entire space is carved out of existing strata rock. The lighter wood planks make the seats and the stage as well as the decks beside the pool. Accents of polished concrete are added to highlight the steps going down into the theatre and a shorter bridge connecting the two decks. A small lily pond is added between the two bases of the bridge along with some existing bamboo plants there as a backdrop to the stage and an informal buffer between the two zones.
