Architects: Monsoon Projects
Area: 4,850 ft²
Year: 2023
Photography: Studio IKSHA
Lead Architects: Shabin S Shajahan, Adarsh Rajendran
City: Kozhikode, Kerala
Country: India
Hassan House, a residential building designed by Monsoon Projects in Kozhikode, Kerala, reinterprets traditional South Indian domestic architecture through a contemporary minimalist lens, completed in 2023. Drawing from the client’s familial roots in Kayalpattinam, the design emphasizes communal living within a private framework, anchored around a central courtyard that connects interior spaces and improves passive ventilation. The project employs a restrained material palette of Kota stone, oxide-finished cement plaster, exposed steel, and timber-framed glazing, eliminating paint use. Hassan House integrates cultural memory with sustainable construction in a compact urban context through spatial layering, natural light manipulation, and thermal performance strategies.
In the fast-paced city of Kozhikode, Hassan House offers a measured architectural response, merging modern minimalism with sustainable planning. Designed by Monsoon Projects, the residence combines a disciplined material palette with a spatial configuration that supports family cohesion and visual privacy. The project takes conceptual direction from the client’s ancestral background in Kayalpattinam, a coastal Muslim settlement in Tamil Nadu known for its close-knit community and business traditions. Reflecting this lineage, the design centers on shared living and collective interactions, while ensuring separation from the surrounding urban environment. The architects intended to create a sanctuary where family life unfolds inward, protected yet connected.
Set on a terraced site within an established residential neighborhood, the house forms spatial links with nearby family homes. The layout integrates a courtyard at the core of the building, extending the Kerala tradition of internal open spaces. More than a circulation node, the courtyard functions as a climate-responsive core, enhancing natural airflow and daylighting while organizing the home around it.
Material choices reflect a commitment to functional clarity and environmental restraint. The floors are clad in Kota stone, while the walls are finished with black and gray oxide-infused cement plaster. Structural elements are kept intentionally exposed, primarily using basic steel supports. A subdued color palette is interrupted by subtle red accents, which introduce warmth and cultural reference points without overwhelming the space. In a notable sustainable measure, all wall surfaces are untreated by paint, relying on the tactile and visual quality of raw materials.
The house integrates passive design strategies to reduce energy loads. Shading elements and orientation patterns support natural cooling and reduce the need for mechanical ventilation. The open courtyard and carefully placed voids facilitate air circulation, keeping the interior thermally comfortable throughout the day. Light and material work in tandem to define the spatial character. Timber-framed glass walls, oxide-plastered surfaces, and wooden lattice screens introduce changing textures and transparencies. Light filters through these elements, shifting across walls that are described by the architects as “smooth as human skin, yet crackled like stretched rice paper.” This visual layering produces a dynamic interaction between surfaces and light, transforming the house into a responsive interior landscape.
Hassan House presents an architecture grounded in restraint and intent. It translates cultural memory into built form, merging traditional spatial principles with material precision and environmental sensitivity. Through an understated design language, the project offers a contemporary residential model rooted in both heritage and sustainability.
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Project Location
Address: Kozhikode, Kerala, India
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
