Living in metropolitan city most houses lacks a courtyard due to congestion of space and the only way one can enjoy an outside living is terraces. People loves developing their terraces to something beautiful so that they could enjoy an outside seating.
Since I am working as freelance Architect so collaborating with different projects and people is what I do and a week ago I came across a project where the residents of the house wanted to develop their terrace into a moody cosy place.
The area of the house is 300 sq yards and it is newly constructed stilt+ 4 floors residential building.
I was super happy to land on this project the clients wanted something soothing and not much expensive to maintain. I created a mood board for them to evaluate their taste and what they would like and what will suit their budget.
This mood board bought some clarity on the subject. what one aspires to include in their living spaces. It is most of the times hard for the people to imagine the outcomes so as designers we should always bring in mood boards as they shed some light on which elements could be incorporated in the design and what is the theme we are going for.
I received a plain layout of the plan by the builder and then just started pouring in some ideas on sheet of paper. After the rough sketch was done I opened autocad and made a plan of the roof.
Pergola
The first element is pergola. People often get confused between pergola and gazebo. The primary difference is that pergola is light and more of a open shed kin of structure whereas gazebo is mostly closed with roof made up of dome, hexagon or in short a heavy roof with ornamental details.
As the case of the roof development is concerned, choosing a pergola is the best option. In pergola there are multiple options of materials. The wooden one is primary the most famous one but it is super high maintenance thus I went for metal pergola structure with the wooden polishing on it in ashy grey colour to match the decided theme.
Elevating the pergola deck makes it look attractive and it takes not much hard labour to elevate the floor by few inches and create a platform for the pergola and movable furniture to rest. The deck is done by W.P.C. tiles which can resist heat, extreme temperature, rain and they are super easy to maintain.
Outdoor bar and movable seating
For small gatherings for a bbq night a bar is best element to include in the terrace development.
It totally depends upon budget as to what kind of bar does one needs.
I didn't decorated much in this render to focus the bar due to lack of time but the idea of placement is quite clear and do not worry about your bar accessories getting ruined due to rain, as above the pergola roof there will be a transparent sheet of polycarbonate and that will protect everything inside this pergola and even you.
So, one can bring out a cup of coffee and a book to enjoy the rainy evening.
Isn't it mystical?
Fixed Seating and Planters
What another important aspect was addition of fixed seating which requires minimal maintenance. Addition of planters is the foremost part but they should be according to the climate and environment so I added only those plants which require less care and are good for the climate of Delhi.
The fixed seating could be equipped with the fixed planters and to add variation I added a different floor with pebble strips which clearly brings in some vibrancy and add some spice to the place. the centre structure could be utilise as a planter or a bon fire as needed by the people living there and using the space.
It feels super interesting to design something creative and close to nature.
Water Element
Last but not the least, I added a little water element that would give a calm feeling and add some joy to the terrace party or simple get together.
Addition of natural element is always soothing to the soul. So Try to add in some element today to your space and enjoy the change in mood and feel the joy.
Also added a terracotta jali(fencing) above the mumty to keep the water tank safe. As terracotta is specially made up of clay and is local star of India. And it's 100 percent natural and biodegradable.
The above mentioned pictures are renders using revit and lumion software.
Are you planning to create some close to nature space in your living space, Just do it now! It will bring abundance of joy.
Which element excited you the most?
