{"id":384706,"date":"2026-04-17T20:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/384706\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T20:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:17:15","slug":"iki-builds-uses-local-stone-and-earth-for-vaulted-home-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/384706\/","title":{"rendered":"Iki Builds uses local stone and earth for vaulted home in India"},"content":{"rendered":"

A geological palette of rammed earth<\/a>, local stone<\/a> and terracotta<\/a> tiles reflects the rugged, rocky character of the nearby Deccan Plateau at this home in South India<\/a>, designed by local architecture studio Iki Builds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Named Aurva Illam \u2013 a combination of the Sanskrit word Aurva, meaning ‘of the earth’ and the Tamil word Illam, meaning ‘home’ \u2013 the dwelling is located on the outskirts of Hyderabad.<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorIki Builds has completed a home to reflect its surrounding landscape in south India<\/p>\n

According to the principal architect at Iki Builds<\/a>, Vamshidhar Reddy, the home was an attempt to “rethink modern luxury”, rejecting what he described as the “imported glass-and-marble” style typical of villas in the area for something that reflected the landscape.<\/p>\n

“We wanted the architecture to act as a physical extension of the Deccan Plateau \u2013 a home truly born from the ‘memory of the land’,” Reddy told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

\"Close-upIt features a stepped series of vaulted forms<\/p>\n

“To honour the ancient, rugged rock formations of the plateau, we had to build with its actual bones, expressing the local stone in entirely different architectural forms,” he added.<\/p>\n

Rather than adopt the more “defensive”, walled character of villas in the area, Aurva Illam was designed as a stepped series of vaulted forms described by Sama as a “cascading landscape”, with private study and bedroom spaces atop more communal areas.<\/p>\n

\"AurvaThe structure is built from rammed earth, terracotta and stone<\/p>\n

Framing these vaulted spaces are thick walls constructed from rammed earth, which was created using a combination of soil excavated from the site and local quarry waste.<\/p>\n

This rammed earth was left exposed to create raw, striated walls at the ground-floor level, while the upper exterior and large areas of the interior are coated in a terracotta-toned earth plaster that complements areas of red brickwork and tiled vaults.<\/p>\n

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Rammed-earth walls enclose A House Born of Four Soils in India\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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The open ground floor is organised around a central courtyard based on a traditional mutram, with a high, vaulted living, kitchen and dining area to the south positioned off an entrance foyer and illuminated by clerestory windows.<\/p>\n

Leading up to the first floor is a skylit cantilevered stone staircase made from rough-cut salvaged granite boulders, the upper treads of which were polished and the undersides left raw.<\/p>\n

\"CourtyardA courtyard centres the ground floor<\/p>\n

“You start at a grounded, intimately scaled entrance flanked by rammed earth, which then releases into the double-height social concourse of the living hall \u2013 a space we conceived as a cathedral of clay,” Reddy said.<\/p>\n

“The journey continues up through the eastern wing, where stacked twin studies form a vertical library, before culminating at the master suite at the summit, which captures the best cross-breezes and overlooks the park.”<\/p>\n

\"KitchenThe interiors are finished with red brickwork and tiled vaults<\/p>\n

“[The staircase] is our ultimate, sculptural homage to the Deccan plateau. It turns the simple act of walking upstairs into an ascent through the raw geological strata of Hyderabad itself,” he added.<\/p>\n

The cascading form of the home was also used to create a stack ventilation effect, as well as a means of rainwater collection via large ferrocement gutters.<\/p>\n

\"BedroomPrivate study and bedroom spaces are held above the communal areas<\/p>\n

Iki Builds previously used a similar palette of local earth and rubble for another home in Hyderabad, Soil and Soul Studio<\/a>. Rammed earth was also used for A House Born of Four Soils<\/a>, an Indian home by Hiren Patel Architects + Design.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Vivek Eadara<\/a>.<\/p>\n