Building a beautiful house without burning a hole in the pocket must be the most cherished dream of every person. However, the cost of the building materials and the wages of the labourers have skyrocketed in the past few years, marring the dreams of the common man. Meanwhile, noted architect KV Muraleedharan is grabbing attention for designing splendid homes on low and moderate budgets. The house that he designed for Babu in a 2.5 cents plot at Mankavu in Kozhikode is just fabulous. The most impressive fact is that the construction of this house was completed on a meagre budget of Rs 6 lakh.
Babu had intended to build a small consultation room for his wife, who is a homeopathic doctor, close to his house. However, instead of just a consultation room, the designer has built a quaint house with one bedroom here, that too without exceeding the budget.
The beautiful house has a sit-out, hall, one bedroom and two bathrooms designed in 435 sq ft. The living hall has been turned into a consultation space. This hall, however, could be turned into a living cum dining area in the future. Meanwhile, one of the bathrooms could be transformed into kitchen as well.
As the area is flood prone, the foundation is built at a height by making belts in hard rocks. The structure is made using interlocking bricks. This has significantly helped in reducing the use of sand and cement. This played a vital role in keeping a check on the expenses as well. The GI truss roof is paved with concrete tiles. The exteriors don the classic colour theme of white and grey.
Instead of cement plastering, the interior walls have gypsum plastering. Besides lowering the expenses, this feature helps in keeping the interiors cool and comfortable. Vitrified tiles are paved on the floor. Limiting the use of timber in furnishing is one of the main reasons why the construction could be completed on a low budget. Timber has been used to make only the main door and the windows. The rest of the windows are made by doing aluminum fabrication on steel frames. Meanwhile, the doors in the unimportant spots have been made using UPVC. All these had contributed in keeping a check on the expenses.
Kerala requires more such houses that don’t shatter the financial backbone of small families. Houses like this are comfortable and have all the required amenities. Most importantly, they are built on affordable budgets as well.
Project Facts
Location – Pantheeramkavu, Calicut
Area – 435 SFT
Plot – 2.5 cents
Owner – Babu and Dr. Anitha Babu
Designer – KV Muraleedharan
Building Designer, Chelari, Malappuram
Mob – 9895018990
Email – buildingdesigners1985@gmail.com
