Brickbox

A two-storey home on a narrow plot, with an open ground-floor living space, a private upper floor and a terrace to the sky, behind a façade of brick, concrete and greenery.

Walter Residence: A Home That Grows Up Instead of Out

The Walter Residence started with a plot that was long and slim, and the question every family with a plot like that asks: how do we fit everything in without the house feeling cramped? At Buildink Studio, architects in Raipur, our answer was to build up instead of out and give each floor its own purpose.

The façade is where you notice it first. A tall column of terracotta brick rises on the left, and the first floor juts out over the entrance to make a sheltered car porch below. Brick, raw concrete and white plaster are stacked as separate volumes, so the front has real depth and never looks like a flat wall. The brick is also a practical choice: it’s warm, it ages well and it needs very little upkeep.

The ground floor is one easy sweep. You come in past a compact toilet and reach the living room at the front of the house, with sofas facing the TV wall, plants on either side and a big window for daylight. The staircase runs along one wall so it takes up no extra room. At the back is the kitchen with its own door to the rear, and a bedroom tucked away from the main living space.

The upper floor is more private. At the top of the stairs there’s a small family lounge with a store room beside it. The bedroom (12'3" × 13'3") has its own toilet and wardrobe, and opens onto a 4-foot balcony lined with planters. That’s the green edge you see on the façade, and a deep concrete overhang above shades it from the summer sun.

At the back, the family lounge opens onto a large open terrace of about 21' × 13'. It works for festival evenings, small gatherings or a quiet cup of chai after work.

By late afternoon the sun turns the brick amber and the plants on the railing glow. That’s when it stops looking like a design and starts looking like a home.