A series of twisting walls made from local brick form partitions that separate the living spaces within this house in the Indian city of Trivandrum.
Local architecture office Wallmakers designed the Pirouette House as a tribute to British-born Indian architect Lawrence Wilfred "Laurie" Baker, who promoted the revival of regional building practices and the use of local materials such as brick.
Top: a screen was made using reclaimed scaffolding pipes. Above: internal walls twist between rooms
The house is situated on a compact site in the capital of the southern state of Kerala. It is surrounded by other properties, which led the architects to design an inward-facing building with spaces arranged around a central courtyard.
Wallmakers based the house's construction on a bricklaying technique ? the rat-trap bond ? used by Baker, who created several buildings in Trivandrum that demonstrated a pioneering approach to sustainable and organic architecture. Curved walls conceal structural components
The rat-trap bond is a way of laying bricks at right angles to create a cavity in the wall that helps increase thermal efficiency and reduce the volume of bricks required.
At the Pirouette House, Wallmakers adapted this technique to create curved walls that provide enhanced structural performance as well as concealing structural components and service ducts.
A metal staircase leads along the side of the reclaimed screen
"The idea was further developed to form a series of s...