HKS house is located uphill in a quiet residential neighborhood in Visakhapatnam. The owners wanted a home with clearly delineated private spaces for the family, and a separate block to host guests and events. The building is therefore conceived as two programmed volumes held together by a bridge-corridor, landscaped courts, and shaded terraces.
photography by © Shamanth Patil
At the ground level, the owners can park, meet visitors at a home-office and organize shows at the gallery. Guests are either led up to an entry stairway to the verandah or towards the north lawns for a celebration. The northern volume also holds a formal living room, a covered deck for brunches and whirlpool bath-lounge, for the children and their guests.
photography by © Shamanth Patil
The eastern court and bridge together form the pivot of the home. It is both open and enclosed and offers varying degrees of interaction between the private and public areas of the building. The bridges (on the first and second floor) are capped with a large coffered floor that forms a façade recess, causing a low-pressure zone, forcing the north easterlies through the core of the house.
photography by © Shamanth Patil
The second volume includes five large bedrooms along the southern edge, all reaching out to either capture views or winds from the Arabian Sea. On level one, the old and young meet in the family lounge and western deck. This block also includes a double-height formal dining room, kitchens, utility spaces and staff accommodation. HKS house has deep overhangs, thick edges, and wraps around greens, intended to keep a large internal volume as cool as possible. The exterior faces are rendered in smooth white and granular grey (cement plaster panels); mild textures to attenuate the effects of saline air and coal dust from the port nearby.
photography by © Shamanth Patil
Project Info:
Architects: SDeG
Project Location: Visakhapatnam, India
Design Lead: Sujit Nair, Balaji T
Project Team: Sujit, Balaji, Hari Krishna, Pratibha, Gayathri, Shoaib, Siddharth
Area: 1364.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Shamanth Patil
Manufacturers: Grohe, Toto
Structural Consultant: ISA Consultants
Electrical Consultant: PK Consultants
Budget: USD 600,000
Sophie Tremblay is a Montreal-based architectural editor and designer with a focus on sustainable urban development. A McGill University architecture graduate, she began her career in adaptive reuse, blending modern design with historical structures. As a Project Editor at Arch2O, she curates stories that connect traditional practice with forward-thinking design. Her writing highlights architecture's role in community engagement and social impact. Sophie has contributed to Canadian Architect and continues to collaborate with local studios on community-driven projects throughout Quebec, maintaining a hands-on approach that informs both her design sensibility and editorial perspective.