Matharoo Associates

Net House . Ahmedabad

Matharoo Associates . + world-architects

Though less prevalent today, in our childhood we slept outdoors under a simple net held up by intersecting poles which, once we tucked in, became our private domain, a safe haven.

When the brief for a weekend house in the fringes of the city asked for a place that is open to nature yet shields you from its harsher aspects, memories of the net and the protection it offered came to mind. A virtual jungle of hoardings, telecom towers and temporary structures now make up the Indian city skyline. This same image reverberates in the light composite steel and concrete hand fabricated trellis that holds up the hovering slab and leaves the floor below free.
Centred around an all encompassing cabinet the 12 m x 12 m column less space thus formed is enveloped in gossamer layers of mosquito net to protect from insects,
bamboo chiks to provide shade from the hot tropical sun and glass so it can be air conditioned. All these layers providing desired degrees of privacy, shelter and exposure to nature, resulting in the NET HOUSE.