How to design a home with wood

From choosing the right texture to picking a unique style, there’s much to setting up a place with the material, writes Sowmya Putran

A sloped wooden ceiling built from locally-sourced pine wood for a Kasauli home by The Works Interiors, Delhi.

Solid wood slats wrap a powder room at a home by Hundredhands Design, Bengaluru.

A Kumta-based wooden home designed by Andagere Architects, Gollarapalya, Bengaluru Rural. 

Interiors of the Kumta-based home has roofing done with marine plywood and coconut timber.

Planning to build a new house? Make a statement in your neighbourhood by using wood. These designs are eco-friendly while offering the best of aesthetics, say experts.

Choose wisely

Akarsh Tiwari, CEO of Woodniido, Chennai, works with a construction technique called wood-frame housing. These homes can be completely dismantled into about 15 wooden panels, he notes. He works with five types of wood: Spruce-pine-fir is for the structures (due to its strength), Western red cedar works best for the facade and Yellow cedar for doors, door frames, windows, and outdoor furniture (as they naturally secrete protective oils), and Western hemlock and Douglas fir are for furniture and decor (as they bend well).

Ajith Andagere, an architect with Andagere Architects, Gollarapalya, Bengaluru Rural, designed a mesmerising wooden home in Kumta using traditional carpentry. “We built this home on stilts. There is a gap underneath and termites cannot climb up,” he shares. They used non-forest timber for the floors and main walls, he notes. For the roofing, Ajith combined marine plywood with coconut timber. In places where he wanted a cheaper option, he used cement corrugated sheets and country tiles on top of the coconut timber rafters.

At his ongoing project: a wooden Goan home, Akshat Bhatt, principal architect with Architecture Discipline, New Delhi, is working with a complete mass timber prefabricated structure. “We count on charring to protect the timber. Charred timber claddings are our go to. We have also created a unique cantilever structure,” he notes.

Sunitha Kondur, co-founder and partner, Hundredhands Design, Bengaluru, wanted to accentuate the entrance of a Yemalur villa project, and then go into taller ceilings. She opted for a ceiling design articulated by ply with veneer rafters and concealed the air conditioning unit with trap doors (integrated into the design), so that they don’t get dirty like painted trap doors.

Sunitha works with two kinds of wood: veneer and solid wood. “When we work with large panelling, we usually use ply with veneer. But for more detailed design, we pair it with solid wood, or work completely with solid wood based on the design,” she says.

Keep it real

Sunitha works with veneer that has subtle grains for large surfaces, and veneer with artistic or prominent texture grains when she wants to highlight a piece of furniture. “I love using live solid logs (logs of wood that have been cut without removing the bark or natural edge) for counters and tables as well,” she adds.

Devika Khosla, creative director of The Works Interiors, Delhi, worked with a sloped wooden ceiling built from locally sourced pine wood for a Kasauli home in December. Sloped wooden roofs lend a cosy look, and work well for attic spaces and farmhouses, she says.

The shade and texture of the wood can have a major impact on the aesthetics of a room. To make a bold statement, one can contrast the ceiling with the furniture. And for a subtle look, one can tone it down to white or beige shades. “I think it’s best to let the grain structure and natural knots show through, rather than hiding them by painting,” she adds.

To cut away the monotony, Akarsh counts on gypsum boards that are screwed onto wood and then finished with paint. Ajith says it’s important to stay true to the original texture and aesthetics of any wood. “For instance, don’t colour a cheaper wood to make it resemble teakwood,” he says.

Unique creations

Ajith crafted a moving wall at a Kumta wooden house. “If you slide the wall open by a few inches, the entire wall opens up. If you slide it back, there are small linear openings where we have a copper mosquito mesh,” he elaborates.

At a boutique villa in Jalakara, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, he crafted a movable pivoted woven teakwood wall that acts as a louvre. It’s perforated to beat the humidity while offering complete privacy. It gives the user an option to keep the space open or closed.

Sunitha worked with sliding solid timber screens in an outdoor bathroom at a Whitefield penthouse. Mixing timber screens with fine metals like brass and copper can highlight the design even more beautifully, she notes. For wall claddings, wall panelling, headboards, and screens, another idea is the use of wooden slats. “At the Whitefield penthouse, we wrapped a powder room with solid wood slats,” she says.

Wallet factor

*Wooden homes cost about Rs 4,000-Rs 7,000 per sq ft.

*Set aside a budget of Rs 700-Rs 1,200 per sq ft for wooden ceilings, slats, and screens.

Challenges

*Selecting the right type of wood and design interventions in the case of harsh climates can be challenging.

*Achieving precision in carpentry work according to the customer’s needs.

Tips to remember

*Use hardwood for bathrooms.

*Apply a yearly coat of teak oil or any PU wood coating on outdoor wooden surfaces, recommends Sunitha.

*Always use sloped roofs for wooden homes, especially in a tropical context.

*Use a house wrap to protect the structures and bitumen sheets for waterproofing roofs, says Akarsh.