The House of Memories: a New Chapter Rooted in History

Set in the verdant backdrop of Valsad, Gujarat—a region known for its farmland and lotus ponds—the House of Memories emerges as both a continuation and a reimagining. The 850 m² plot once held a rambling 22-room structure, a blend of home and office, filled with antique Parsi-era furniture. But that layout no longer served the evolving needs of a multi-generational family.

Studio Lagom inherited a partially completed site, where a frame structure’s plinth was already in place, but they chose to rethink everything, anchoring their vision around a central, meaningful element: the old well.

House of Memories: A Dialogue Between Old and New

Hardik Shah along with Krishna, Madhavi and Sweta at Studio Lagom made a bold move—switching from the existing frame structure to a load-bearing exposed brick typology. The shift wasn’t just structural, but philosophical. It connected the new house to time-tested methods while embracing modern accessibility. The result is a house split into two distinct but harmonious volumes: residence and office.

While the office engages with the street through a concrete-framed teak slat façade, the home’s entrance is quieter—set into a recessed concrete box and marked by a hand-carved door. Inside, a green-lined path and Burmese pots guide visitors to the C-shaped residence arranged around a courtyard, pond, and the well.

Designing for All Generations

The layout meets the needs of three generations. The ground floor serves the senior members of the family, housing two accessible bedrooms, a living space, temple, dining area, and kitchen. Upstairs are two larger bedrooms—each with their own private nooks—plus a family lounge and a guest suite.

Notably, the son’s study overlooks a frangipani tree, while the master bedroom opens onto a generous terrace for entertaining. Mobility and comfort are prioritized throughout, not through clinical solutions but intuitive design gestures that preserve beauty and warmth.

Rooted in Nature, Built with Memory

Material and landscape work hand in hand to create a home that is both deeply personal and environmentally attuned. Exposed brick, reclaimed wood, terrazzo, and untreated concrete ground the architecture in honesty and memory. Salvaged elements from the old house—like staircase treads, wardrobe shutters, and timber cabinets—have been reimagined as furniture, walk-ins, and storage, while even leftover construction materials were repurposed on terrace floors.

Just as materials carry the weight of history, nature softens and enlivens every space. Full-height shutters, skylights, and thoughtful apertures connect rooms to the outdoors—be it a leafy court, terrace, or lily pond. The dining area, framed by greenery and sliding-folding windows, captures this harmony best, allowing residents to adjust how much of nature they invite in. Together, the tactile and the natural form a home that breathes, remembers, and adapts.

Stories in Space and Structure

Every part of the house, from its walls to its objects, contributes to a living narrative. The interiors are layered with memory. An old charpoy, four-poster beds, a wedding wardrobe, and vintage timepieces sit alongside South Indian pillars and boat ends, forming a dialogue across generations and regions.

This celebration of legacy extends to the architecture itself. The ‘dancing brick wall’ - a perforated load-bearing structure of angled bricks - stands as both sculpture and screen, gently dividing the home and workspace.

Behind it, a lush linear court enhances the buffer, showing how thoughtful design can establish boundaries without severing connection. Like the objects inside, the architecture carries meaning, texture, and memory, integrating function with emotional depth.

A Workspace with Memory

Even the office section carries the spirit of the old home. A spiral staircase near the entrance becomes a sculptural moment, flanked by a glass partition and a vintage-inspired lattice screen. Seven windows salvaged from the previous house appear to float in this screen, a visual metaphor for the past continuing to look out onto the present. The workspace uses similar materials and vocabulary as the home, but reinterprets them with a sharper edge, appropriate for its function.

This continuity reinforces the project’s deeper philosophy: that architecture is not just shelter, but memory made tangible. The House of Memories isn’t simply a new home, it’s a model for how to build for today without losing sight of where you came from. Studio Lagom’s design shows that thoughtful architecture can be both progressive and personal, a structure that remembers, adapts, and endures.

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