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Designed by Rohit Suraj, Designer and Founder, Urban Zen, the home gets its name ‘House of Tropics’ from its theme.  Inspired by nature in the tropics, this farmhouse-style Jubilee hills residence in Hyderabad is designed in respect to straight lines and open spaces.

Starting from the ground level, garden spaces all around that are lifted up from street level enable a good flow of light into the home and breathing space in the living area.

Moving indoors, the double height dining area with glazed framing displays a concoction of indoors and outdoors overlooking the trees in the podium garden. The open kitchen attached to the dining area adds to spaciousness.

Moving up, the staircase that occupies a prominent central location in the house is inspired by a tree-top forest view. It is composed of metal wires in tension kept in place with small anchors on the side of each tread. The variation of color on the wooden parquet flooring and a pool with koi fishes around the stair case highlights the space.

Approaching the private scape above, bedrooms are designed with a focus on natural material like rough cut stone, heavy grained timber and bamboo to bring in the feel of the tropics. The ceiling has 3D wood tiles to give a dense feel of timber and to make the living areas distinctive. The stone backdrop on the wall of the bed head adds to the natural pallete.

The floor above is a semi-private space inspired by the tropical plantain leaf. The folded, wooden partitions have been designed to screen certain areas like the drawing room and first floor corridor for privacy. Spotlights on the floor and ceiling illuminate these panels, forming an interesting diagrid pattern on the white, gypsum board ceiling.

Even the species of plants outdoor are in keeping with the theme. Temple trees, low height palms, ferns and water plants like lotus, and water lilies are planted. The highlighting elements in the garden are: low height pool edged with local granite stone, stepping stones and white pebbles patches, entrance gate framed with wooden planks, and a marble sculpture of a Hindu cow feeding her calf.