Ryan
Indian Coffee House, Thiruvananthapuram
- Location
- Thiruvananthapuram,India
- Design firm
- Laurie Baker
- Typology
- Commercial
- Years
- 1970–1972
- Status
- Complete
Facade facts
- Facade summary
- An exposed brick cylindrical facade defined by continuous spiraling bands of solid brickwork and perforated brick jaali panels.
- Documented intention
- Laurie Baker intended to design a highly economical, climate-appropriate building that eliminated the need for expensive materials like concrete,steel,glass, and wood for window frames. The brick jaali was chosen to allow natural breezes to cool the interior while filtering out the harsh tropical sun and keeping out monsoonal rains.
- Street relationship
- Standing as a distinctive red cylindrical beacon in a chaotic urban landscape, the building's facade offers a stark contrast to surrounding commercial structures, functioning as an iconic architectural landmark at the street level.
- Climate relationship
- Optimized for Kerala's hot,humid tropical climate, the porous jaali facade ensures continuous cross-ventilation, preventing hot air from getting trapped inside, while the depth of the brick openings prevents direct driving rain from penetrating the interior.
- Window pattern
- Rhythmic,spiraling bands of perforated brickwork (jaali).
- Glazing
- None
- Depth
- The depth is defined by the thickness of a brick (approx. 11.5 cm to 23 cm depending on single/double wall construction), creating shadow depth in each jaali void.
- Rhythm
- Spiraling, upward-trending rhythm echoing the internal ramp.
- Local Red Clay Bricks
- Local Red Clay Bricks — Entire exterior envelope — Rough,unplastered
- Lime/Cement Mortar
- Lime/Cement Mortar — Joints between bricks — Pointed
- Load-bearing exposed masonry
- Double-leaf or single-leaf load-bearing brick wall designed as a continuous cylinder to resist lateral forces organically through its curved geometry.
- Brick Jaali
- Perforated screen wall achieved by systematic omissions of bricks in the layout, providing structural stability while maintaining porosity.
Tags
- 1971–1980
- Aw)
- Cement Mortar
- Clay brick
- Commercial
- Dense urban pocket
- Flemish Bond with omissions
- Glass
- India
- Kerala
- Laurie Baker
- Lime
- Lime Mortar
- Load-bearing masonry
- Local Red Clay Bricks
- None
- Optimized for Kerala's hot
- Perforated Screen (Jaali)
- Post-Independence Modern Indian Architecture
- Restaurant
- Rhythmic
- Spiraling
- Thiruvananthapuram
- Tropical wet and dry (As
- Unreinforced Masonry
- Vernacular Modernism
- Windowless
- double wall construction)
- humid tropical climate
- spiraling bands of perforated brickwork (jaali).
- steel
- terracotta
- unplastered
Description
The facade is a continuous, self-supporting cylindrical wall constructed of locally sourced red clay bricks. Its main feature is the absence of traditional glass windows, replaced entirely by a system of brick jaali (perforations). These perforations are created by omitting individual bricks at regular intervals within the Flemish bond pattern. The exterior wall closely follows the internal spiral ramp, which is expressed on the facade through the upward angling of the brickwork and the rhythmic placement of the jaali openings. The brickwork is left unplastered, showcasing the natural texture and warm red hue of the material.
Visual analysis
Visually, the facade acts as a dynamic screen. The alternating pattern of solid brick and dark voids (the jaali holes) creates a highly textured surface that changes with the angle of sunlight, casting intricate shadow patterns both on the exterior and inside along the ramp.
Gallery
Sources
- Laurie Baker: Life, Works & Writings · Gautam Bhatia
- The Master Builder: Laurie Baker · Laurie Baker Centre for Habitat Studies