CabinA homes are built keeping in mind the local landscape, flora and fauna, but without compromising on modern-life luxuries.

Sunny Watwani and Adithya Roongta could be termed as dendrophiles—people who love trees and nature. The two founders of CabinA have been backpacking to the hills for years. Since they live close to the coastal city of Chennai, they love spending time in the Nilgiris.

An experience that usually promises serenity, however, didn’t feel quite peaceful in the last few years. The mountains are inundated with crowds, commercial spaces and reckless new buildings today. “People in India love travelling to the mountains and have, over time, even created second homes there. But the way they’ve built their homes is alarming—there’s little or no regard for the surrounding nature. People have blocked natural streams, cut down trees and damaged the local biodiversity. Looking at this we realized that a sustainable, responsible and sensitive concept for homes was the need of the hour, and that’s how we came up with CabinA in 2019,” says Watwani.

One of a Kind

To give their dream a form, the founders reached out to several architecture firms that they’d worked with before, and had strong connections with. The idea that Watwani and Roongta fostered was to have small homes that were fitted with modern-day luxuries. The homes would have minimal carbon footprint, a pre-fab structure that could be transported from the factory to the site, and would not need clearing of land; it would also be able to very seamlessly merge into the surrounding landscape. With several discussions and iterations, they fine-tuned the design.

While the work for these cabins is on-going in several locations such as Coorg and Conoor, with all cabins customized according to the landscape, the first of its kind is now ready in a coffee plantation in the picturesque mountain range of Suntikoopa, Bettagere Estate, Coorg for an upcoming resort called Betta Living.

This CabinA24 was built for client Vishal Sivappa, for an upcoming experiential boutique stay called, Betta Living—a concept and design of an upcoming resort that makes use of a series of these cabins to create a wonderful new living experience. While the conceptual render for the cabin is by SPASM Design Architects, the design development and execution was done by the firm Dev Desai Architects and Associates (DDAA), who also made several reiterations to reach the final design.

“We have another company called CabinA Living that speaks to landowners, planters and people in the hill station who want to create homes, resorts or gated communities responsibly—and we help them execute the project,” says Watwani.

True to the Land

On its conceptual render, Sangeeta Merchant, co-founder of SPASM Design Architects says, “Creating a concept for this was challenging for us as we’re used to working on large-scale, high-end residences and such. A small cabin that is fitted with all luxuries was something new yet exciting for us. As for the sustainability factor, we envisioned the entire cabin to be made with recycled, eco-friendly materials. The biggest convenience would be that it can be very quickly put together.” 

The CabinA24 is the smallest cabin in the Cabin A series with a carpet area of 250 square-feet. “Every corner strives to visually, if not spatially, connect with the natural context, be it the bathroom, which is furnished with all the modern amenities or the kitchen that captures stunning views of the valley,” says Dev Desai of DDAA.

“The featured project is one of the smallest cabins in the series with a carpet area of 225 square feet. The form stems from the desire to celebrate a strong architectural identity while ensuring efficiency and functionality of each space. Nestled amongst the site’s towering trees and a lush coffee estate, the sleek, prefabricated cabin manages to both, contrast and complement its natural context. The spatial configuration consists of a spacious living space and a cozy bathroom. Every corner in the cabin strives to visually if not spatially connect with the natural context, be it the bathroom which comes furnished with all the modern amenities or the kitchen that captures stunning views of the valley,” avers Desai. 

While the bespoke furniture blends in with the interiors, the tinted pendant lights accentuate the interiors with a warm yellow glow. The exteriors are clad in ACP walls and the outdoors are in ACP black roofing. The flooring is in a granite base with click and lock SPC tiles. The entire cabin can accommodate two-to-four people. What’s interesting is that it rises 2-5 feet above the ground, so that the fauna underneath is left untouched. “We visualize that all other cabins too will be equipped with temperature control. Even the tiniest details like a kettle, to wardrobes hangers, will be provided. The loose furniture—from the beds, breakfast table to lighting—will be equipped in all cabins, so the client literally has to (only) move in with his clothes,” Watwani says.

A Responsible Future

For building these cabins, Watwani and Roongta are cognizant of the fact that not a single tree should be cut. And so, the two, along with the architects, evaluate the position of where the cabin should be placed. “In case we do cut trees, we undertake replantation. Apart from that, we’ve tied up with the global organization called OneTreePlanted.Org. So, for every cabin we sell, we donate for 10 trees to be planted. For our future cabins that are underway, we’ve given completely off-grid solutions so the cabins are self-sufficient and powered by solar energy,” says Watwani.

source: http://www.architecturaldigest.in / Architectural Digest / Home> Decorating / by Aditia Mahesh / Photography by Kunal Daswani Photography / November 08th, 2021