Studio Wood was asked to construct an entertainment hub for a family of 3 on the terrace of a 2600 sq.ft plot. The design was born keeping in mind orientation, climate and comfort.
The north-south direction of the plot ensured less heat gain. So in order to receive thermal comfort open-able clearstory windows were installed at the bottom, to allow cross-ventilation.
To give the area an open and fresh appeal, the terrace was landscaped and a controlled micro-climate was created, using plants, water bodies and sunshades.
Materials: Exposed brick fused with exposed concrete and a lot of light.
Proper lighting can truly brighten up your life. But most of the time we give it least priority. In this blog, we will take up some simple tips to light up your home and life, well.
Why do we need lights?
Apart from making things visible, lights tone up the aesthetics and ambiance of the house.
It’s important to set goals for the lighting needs of each room in the house. Determining these goals will help you get the correct lighting.
Summing it up, lights of each room must set a mood to help you with the work that room is meant for.
While you plan your lighting break it into these three criteria
Task light
Ambiance or Show light
Generic lights
Kitchen task light
Task lights
Task lights, as the name suggests, help serve a specific purpose, these are generally placed near shelves in the drawing room, kitchen, dressing rooms, on top of paintings, etc.
Task lights also include the safety lights that will helps you walk at night.
Ambient ceiling lighting
Ambiance or show light
These are the decorative lights that hide behind false ceilings. Covered lamps that give our rooms a distinct look and the lights that highlight sections of walls or focus on a painting or sculpture again fall on this category.
These lights are usually planned during the construction process and it’s better to consult an interior decorator while planning them. If you are planning a ‘Do it Yourself’ project, just make sure if the light is itself a highlight or it is supposed to highlight something else.
Generic Lights
Generic lights
These are the lights that you cannot do without. These lights flood the room with light. Efficient led lights are a good option for this purpose.
As we talk about lights we must also make sure that we are optimizing daylight. As a simple tip, tint your west side windows a bit more than others.
Hope you liked the simple ideas on deciding and planning lighting for your home.
We like rains. What we don’t like is damp walls, smelly carpets and the fear of termites. So we thought why not give our readers what would help them the most at this time of the year – “Home Maintenance Tips for a Happy Monsoon”
At times the best solution to a problem is to avoid the problem itself. You cannot avoid monsoons but you can avoid its side effects that affect your house.
Here are few things that you must consider as the monsoon is almost knocking at the door.
Monsoons are a good time for maintenance and not enhancements
Try to minimize moisture in the house by exposing rooms to more sunlight, using dehumidifiers and air conditioners.
Exposing upholstery and rugs to sunlight to minimize overall moisture in the house.
Ensuring cross ventilation to keep the rooms dry during rainy weather.
Not painting/polishing the furniture as it would affect the outer surface of your furniture.
If you have wooden flooring, getting it waxed would be a good idea.
Avoid furniture near the windows to protect them from rain water.
Renovations and Monsoons don’t go well together
Do not underestimate the smallest of the cracks. It would be a good idea to patch them up at the earliest.
Get the window and door frames water-tight.
Do not neglect the terrace. The terraces must be sloped between 1:100 to 1:150 towards the rain-water outlets.
It would be a good idea to waterproof the horizontal surfaces and install proper rainwater pipes.
Walls need some extra care periodically to withstand monsoons. Rain water tends to seep through the walls because of the capillary action that takes place through walls, shafts and construction joints.
Hence, one needs to paint the exterior of the building every 5 years. If you are yet to do so, plan it now. Use waterproof emulsions that are available.
Engage professionals, an architect or structural engineer to check for structural weaknesses every four to six years.
Hope these tips are useful.
We at BuildingBloxensure that you are always delivered with best of advice and products for your construction needs.
