Exteriors

An elevation that looks finished from the street

For an independent house the outside is the first room anyone sees. We plan the elevation the way we plan a living room, with cladding, paint, lighting, balconies and terraces drawn together, so the house reads as one piece rather than a wall with things added to it.

Get a free estimate See the work

Three-storey white villa with a rust-orange box frame around the top-floor window, a first-floor balcony, a wooden entrance door under the porch, palm trees and a paved driveway

What it covers: Elevation cladding, exterior paint, soffits and lighting, balconies and terraces
Cladding on this page: Wood-finish fluted louvres on walls, parapets and soffits
Railings and walls: Glass balcony railings, white walls with a painted feature frame
Also planned: Roof line, parking and porch, outdoor planting
Studio: Over fifteen years of design and execution in Bangalore

The outside of the house is planned, not patched

Exterior design treats the outside of the house as a whole: the roof line, the parking and porch, the balconies and terraces, the outdoor planting, and the wall surfaces between them. When all of these are drawn on the same elevation, a cladding panel ends where a balcony starts, the colours on each floor agree with each other, and the lighting sits where the walls need it. It also means the design takes account of the local climate and the site before anything is chosen.

Cladding, paint and soffits do most of the work

Three things change how a house reads from the street, and all three are on this page.

Cladding on the feature walls. One house in the gallery has brown wood-finish fluted louvres on the underside of every projecting slab, set against a dark grey wall and a stone-clad base. Another uses the same kind of louvres on a side wall, the balcony parapet and the soffit above it, so the front of the house becomes one warm band.
Paint used as a frame, not a coat. On the villa in the hero photo the house is white and a single rust-orange box around the top-floor window carries the whole elevation. The same orange is picked up on the balcony roof edge below it. One colour, used once, does more than three.
Soffits. The underside of a balcony or a roof overhang is the surface you see most from the gate. Lining it with fluted panels and setting spotlights into it changes a plain concrete slab into a finished ceiling.

Lighting is placed on the drawing, not after

Recessed spots in the soffits light the balconies and wash down the cladding after dark, which is when most people come home. Mark every light point on the elevation drawing, so the wiring is run before the cladding goes on and no fitting ends up clipped to a wall as an afterthought.

Balconies and terraces as outdoor rooms

Glass railings keep the balconies open and let the soffit above them show. The Jigani villa’s covered balcony has a ceiling fan, a patterned tile floor and rope chairs round a glass-topped table, so it works as an outdoor room. Its terrace has a slatted metal pergola with creepers trained over it and a curved wooden deck for a table and two chairs. Decide early which balconies and terraces you will sit in, because a fan, a light point and a power socket are far easier to add before the ceiling is finished.

Contemporary, minimalist, country or traditional

A house carries a style more plainly than a room does. Contemporary elevations rely on clean lines, a play of light and shadow and a mix of textures, with detailing kept to a minimum. Minimalist ones go further, with neutral shades, subtle textures and nothing added that does not need to be there. A country look uses timber and simple embellishment with a planted front garden; a traditional house is about balance and proportion. We will tell you which of these suits the structure you have, because a cantilevered box and a sloping roof do not want the same treatment.

Working on a house that is already standing

You do not have to be building from scratch. Cladding, soffit lining, lighting and paint are applied to the walls and slabs that are already there, which is how an existing elevation is brought up to date. If you are also doing the interiors, plan the two together so the timber tones, colours and lighting are the same from the gate to the last bedroom.

The work

Exterior design, as built.

Low-angle view of a multi-storey house with brown wood-finish fluted louvre cladding on the undersides of its projecting slabs, square recessed spotlights, white fascia bands, a dark grey wall and a brown stone-clad base

Covered first-floor balcony with a brown ceiling fan, an orange-painted roof edge, a glass railing, four black rope chairs round a glass-topped table on blue-and-orange patterned tiles, and palm trees beyond

Front of a house with brown wood-finish louvre cladding on a side wall, the balcony soffit and the balcony parapet, three bronze downlights in the soffit, cream walls inside the balcony and a white pillar at the right

Terrace with a grey metal slatted pergola with creepers hanging from it, a curved wooden deck with two rattan chairs and a round table, white parapet walls and grey stone floor tiles

Corner of a covered balcony with black rope-weave chairs with grey cushions, a round glass-topped table, blue-and-orange patterned floor tiles, a glass railing, an orange-painted roof edge and palm trees beyond

Walkthroughs

Filmed on handover day.

**Prestige Lakeside Habitat, 3 BHK interior**Prestige Lakeside Habitat, Whitefield

Before you call

Questions people ask us

Is this for flats as well, or only independent houses?

It is for buildings where you control the outside walls, such as independent houses, villas and business premises. In a flat the balcony is usually the only outside space you can change.

Can you redo the exterior of a house that is already built?

Yes. Updating the outside of an existing home is a large part of this work. Cladding, soffit lining, lighting and paint are all applied to the walls and slabs you already have.

Does the Bangalore climate change what you use outside?

It does. We choose cladding and finishes for the local weather and the site, so sun and rain are considered before any material goes on the wall.

Can you do the interiors and the exterior together?

Yes. The villa in the photo at the top of this page is the Jigani villa, which we fitted out inside floor by floor. Planning the inside and outside at once means the colours, timber tones and lighting match from the gate to the bedrooms.