CHAABI
Project Name: CHAABI
Completion Year: 2022
Gross Built Area (m2/ ft2): 1035.23m2/11,143.12ft2
Project Location: Berabo, Rupganj, Narayanganj.
Photo Credits: Maruf Raihan
Project Description
In a serene environment, situated just outskirt of Dhaka city with a close proximity to the river Shitalakha, the design was intended for residence of a family. The residence with its transitional layers of indoor-outdoor spaces offers generous spreads of filtered daylight glazing through the interiors. It intended for people to look for the unknown and ask from the unknown. Hence, the residence was named CHAABI which means to want something in Bengali.
The flow of the house’s function expresses openness and nature. While the main entrance acts towards welcoming guests, other entrances are crafting the openness and blending with the surrounding nature. In the ground floor, there are bedrooms, home theatre, dining room, swimming pool, gym, guest room, kitchen and staff room. The water body beside the living room is open to sky and south opening gives the view of the nature with the calmness of south wind. The water body beside the house has a straight connection to the house. The narrow walkway on the edge of the water body which takes to a large open space, giving the feeling of going from small space to large space.
A series of light-filled stairways provide visual connection with the landscape and emulate walking through the green grass as one passes between spaces.
On the first floor, there’s an intimate family area where rain can be relished and a door that opens to the outdoor area where one can just sit and cherish the rain. Besides that, there’s a guest room, kitchenette and a long corridor leads to various spaces such as the family living room where is a space called address-desk. It’s an elevated wooden stage where there are three microphones to give speech. Then there are few bedrooms and a study room. The master bedroom is especially celebrated where a stair connecting it to the open field.
The bedroom over a contoured land was placed thoughtfully as a courtesy to the only daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Mahbubul Alam.
The use of materials reflects the architecture of the residence. Portraying an iconic but sensitive use of concrete for walls and ceilings and Mahogany wood for doors-windows, exhibits the materials’ versality to their fullest. The use of glasses with no grills allows to enter filtered glazing sunlight. Matte tiles were used in floors giving a subtle finish.
The design of the residence incorporated a few emotions provoking elements. One of these are memory traps. These were placed in the ground where ambient indirect light comes from. They kept memorabilia of their parents’ and grandparents’ there to remember and treasure them.
The design intended for people to look for peace and calmness as well as be in sync with the surroundings. This subtle incorporation provides the users with both physical and psychological connections with nature. The discussion of the project came to a point where the whole thing seemed like a poem. That assured the client enough to say, “You write and I will interpret it in my own way”.
