Flying House

Photo © RKDS

Single Houses

Architects: Romi Khosla Design Studios

Year: 2018

The flying house is a four-bedroom family villa situated on the rising hills at the foot of the mighty Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas. The flying house, so-called because of its prominent inverted roof form is situated on the low hill and opens onto the expanse of the low valley of Kangra as well as the snowcapped peaks of the Dhauladhar range.
Constructed with local material sourced from within 10 kilometers of the site, the architecture of the building references a contemporary interpretation of traditional construction methods. The inner walls of the building are constructed from stabilized mud bricks and the outer frame is constructed from precisely cut interlocking local stone. The house is entered at the upper level where the living dining and kitchen are located as well as two bedrooms. The lower floor of the building is created by excavating the earth from the sloping hillside and houses two additional bedrooms. The orientation of the house is such that all the rooms open towards the valley.
This house has been featured in the Thames and Hudson book on contemporary houses of India written by Rob Gregory and photographed by Edmund Sumner.