Brutalism has long shaped Ahmedabad’s architectural identity, emerging in the mid-20th century as a modernist language aligned with India’s post-independence ambitions. Le Corbusier’s early works, such as the Mill Owners’ Association Building, and Balkrishna Doshi’s climate-responsive designs, established a legacy of monumental concrete forms tempered by environmental empathy. More recently, contemporary practices have revisited this tradition, blending Brutalism’s core tenets with softer materials, integrating with nature for a more nuanced aesthetic.

This intimate dialogue between architecture and nature is heightened by the careful placement of openings. The approach begins with a boundary wall that bends to accommodate a tree trunk, before leading into an entrance corridor punctuated with square apertures. Here, austere concrete surfaces are animated by dappled sunlight and glimpses of greenery beyond. Inside, ribbon windows frame the foliage like living murals, while the master bedroom opens onto a shaded balcony immersed in the tree canopy. Even the daughters’ bedrooms, tucked into the quieter rear wing, maintain their own leafy outlooks.

Materiality plays an equally important role in domesticating the architecture’s severity. A restrained palette of lime plaster walls and grey Kota stone flooring, leather-finished in some areas and polished in others, complements the board-marked concrete shell, while accents of timber introduce warmth. Furniture and objects were chosen with equal care, often custom-designed to respond to the home’s architecture.

It is, however, the landscaping that ultimately softens the house’s raw geometries. Beyond the nine neem trees that structure the layout, layers of tropical foliage enrich the grounds, while a water feature near the entrance reflects fragments of sky and leaves. On the terraces, creepers have been planted to eventually spill over parapets, ensuring that, over time, the concrete planes will be increasingly intertwined with greenery. Daylight, too, plays its part: filtering through branches, bouncing off textured walls, or streaming from two skylights in the master bathroom, ensuring that the interiors are ever-changing, imbuing them with a sense of life.

MS House builds upon Ahmedabad’s rich architectural lineage, where concrete modernism meets a deep respect for climate and landscape, while offering its own interpretation. By allowing the plot’s trees to dictate form and by weaving natural textures into Brutalist geometries, Studio Saransh has crafted a home that embodies both strength and softness, artfully demonstrating that the style’s structural rigour can harmoniously co-exist with intimacy and gentleness.