The Rooted House is a homecoming of sorts for a retired couple who, after decades abroad, chose to reconnect with their roots in India. Conceived as a collage of memories, the home reflects on what it means to belong. It blends contemporary design sensibilities with evocative childhood recollections of growing up in Calcutta. The result is a space that celebrates a life well lived: a vessel for cherished memories and a warm container for those yet to come.
Materiality forms the emotional and architectural backbone of the house. Exposed brick and terracotta sloped roofs lend an earthy warmth, grounding the home in a familiar regional language. The verandah’s arches recall the colonial-era buildings of old Calcutta, yet their refined proportions and clean lines lend a distinctly modern expression. Green nooks appear throughout the home, softening the built form while contributing to passive cooling and everyday comfort. Inside, a vibrant interplay of Athangudi tiles and oxide flooring ties the spaces together with colour, craft, and warmth—anchoring the home in a sensorial, lived-in charm.
Echoes of the old converse with the new, creating an earthy, sensorial experience that grounds the home in place and memory. It becomes a space that is at once contemporary and timeless—fluid in its expression, yet deeply rooted in what came before.