This Chennai home built with discarded materials creates comfort through sustainability

Marriage and a shared architectural practice aren’t the only things uniting Ammaar and Mridula Chowdry of ED+ Architecture, a multi-disciplinary practice based in Chennai. Both are strong advocates of responsible design, incorporating local materials and labour in their work to reduce their carbon footprint. Together they crafted a house in Chennai’s Teynampet that showcased their ability to build within a circular economy.

Aptly titled ‘The Re-Use Home’, the house is built out of salvaged bricks, reclaimed wooden logs, plumbing pipes, dated industrial equipment, and fabric scraps gathered from various sites across the country. Deviating from the norm of execution after a conceptual design is sealed, this house developed as materials were received.

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Working with the existing layout, the architects—who are also the owners of the home—ensured a sunlit, airy living and dining room with a deck overlooking a smaller garden. All the bedrooms are accessed through a small ante space off the dining room, keeping the layout fairly functional for this single-level 2000 square-feet apartment. The home is characterised by bespoke details, seen in the live-edge bench sourced from the adjacent site and a grey marble-top dining console, with fluted timber shutters complementing the flutes in their angular foyer.

Against the clean, neutral backdrop of the home, indigo hues, white-brick walls from a site in Pondicherry, digitally printed concrete floor textures and an enviable coffee mug display niche showcasing mugs from all over the world stand out. The spatial planning and decor are governed by clever recycling of everyday objects and materials that have found new functional use, and bring distinctive character into the spaces. The living room comes to life in its decor collection, including tree stubs and blown glass experiments by the architects themselves.

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Linen sheers with shibori patterns, ceramic decor, apple green walls and delicately-moulded and painted doors soften the otherwise industrial appeal of the home. Pre-used vintage furniture like Chesterfield sofas and big leather armchairs sourced from different vendors decorate the house.

Straightforward in layout, the kitchen comes to life with unexpected finishes: high gloss blue laminate, rustic concrete finished shutters and sleek black subway tiles covering the walls. “I like that it’s not a conventional kitchen but that it has a slightly eclectic appeal to it”, says Mridula.

Velvety forest green, deep vines, and burnt orange shine through the tropical artwork and cushions in the guest bedroom, gently mirroring the outdoors. The pared-back study cum gymnasium is a canvas that emphasises custom De Stijl-themed blinds. “We drew inspiration from our shared experiences with our first set of projects designed together comprising sketches, floor plans and photographs,” she says. The room has milky white tones, creating an interior depth punctuated by a collection of books, vibrant blinds, and artefacts. Their unmistakable love for denim notably shines through in the headboard, in-built diwan, and custom rug in the main bedroom. Even the most timeworn scraps, explains Ammaar, will be given a new lease of life in his intricately layered, upcycled furniture and furnishings.

“The details are not the details; they make the design,” celebrated furniture designer and architect Charles Eames once said. Clearly, the ‘Re-Use Home’ is a pursuit of enhancing a house’s potential through adaptive reuse and mindful reinvention.

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