Simulating foreign model houses doesn't often work in Kerala: Key factors

Some time back, a young man who works in Europe had mailed me complaining that his house, which was only a year and a half old, was leaking everywhere. He mentioned that he had spent a hefty amount to build his dream abode and that he had entrusted a contractor for construction. With immense pain, he wrote that the entire house was leaking and people get electrocuted from the wet walls. I was surprised reading the mail, wondering why a fairly new house would leak. To know why the house, which was only one and a half years old was leaking, I asked him to send a few pictures.

Seeing the pictures, I quickly understood the problem. The house was a concoction of the contemporary abodes and the European-style homes that the owner has lived in. It was indeed a contemporary ‘masterpiece’ where aluminium rafters that are 18 feet tall support countless glass panels. You couldn’t really see any doors and windows on that glass-concrete structure. However, I didn’t miss the giant window that couldn’t be opened or closed, standing out like a facade. I was sure that ‘gallons’ of rainwater would easily enter the interiors through this window.

In Kerala’s tropical weather where it rains for six months in a year, building a house without any rain shades or roof protection seemed unreasonable. With no sufficient protection, the walls absorbed moisture and then got baked in the severe summer heat.

The owner, meanwhile, had been urging me to pay a visit so that I would understand the extent of the damage. Before my finger pressed the switch of the calling bell on the wall paved with cladding tiles, I heard a woman screaming from inside, “Sir, do not touch the switch, you will get electrocuted”.

The owner looked dejected as he opened the door for me. I saw water on the floor at many spots in the house that was built just one and a half years ago. The putty on the soaked walls had come off. I was scared to walk as small pools of water created ‘magic’ on the expensive marbonite floor. The huge window that is almost 18 feet tall happily invited the rainfall into the house. Meanwhile, two maids were busy wiping the floor near this giant window. Ironically, the house named ‘Mazhathulli’ (raindrop) literally brings in rain, drenching everything in it.

I told them that my experience of over two decades wasn’t sufficient to renovate the structure that didn’t possess any symmetry or architectural grace. There was no scope for renovating this architectural ‘mess’. I advised them to show the house to someone who does industrial work and protect the house using aluminium sheets. I left the leaking house, ‘saluting’ the architect who must have been a photoshop expert.

Many people who live in Europe insist that their houses in Kerala should look exactly like the houses in foreign countries. While building houses in Kerala, it is only wise to design structures that suit the tropical climate of the state.