3 days ago
Kerala Sisters Build Climate-Responsive Home on Ancestral Land
Two sisters built a house together on land that came from their mother’s family.
They wanted the home to stay comfortable without always using air conditioning.
An architect studied the direction of the wind before designing the rooms.
Openings, high ceilings and clay lattice walls help air move through the house.
Laterite walls slow down heat, while the layered tile roof helps protect the rooms from sun and rain.
The sisters kept many trees that their grandmother had planted.
The house was finished in December 2024.
They hope their children and grandchildren will keep returning to the family land.
Sisters Renu Krishnadas and Rekha Utham built Kadangotu House on a 70-cent ancestral plot near Kannur.
Architect Amrutha Kishor designed the home around airflow, high ceilings, laterite walls and clay-tile roofing.
Renu says she stayed for 21 days without switching on the air conditioner, using only fans when needed.
The sisters preserved existing trees, used local materials and hired local workers during construction.
Completed in December 2024, the home hosted a Theyyam performance that brought together family and villagers.
- Who
- Sisters Renu Krishnadas and Rekha Utham, with architect Amrutha Kishor, built the home.
- What
- They built Kadangotu House using climate-responsive features intended to reduce dependence on air conditioning.
- Where
- On a 70-cent ancestral plot in a village near Kannur, Kerala, beside paddy fields.
- When
- The house was completed in December 2024; Renu later stayed there for 21 days without using AC.
- Why
- The sisters wanted to share their ancestral land, preserve its trees and traditions, and create a comfortable home suited to Kerala’s heat, humidity and monsoon climate.
Key facts
- Home
- Kadangotu House
- Owners
- Sisters Renu Krishnadas and Rekha Utham
- Architect
- Amrutha Kishor of Elemental
- Site
- A 70-cent ancestral plot near Kannur, Kerala
- Cooling features
- Cross-ventilation, high ceilings, clay jali walls and locally sourced laterite
- Roof design
- Two layers of Mangalore clay tiles separated by a coir sheet and air gap
- Completion
- December 2024
Quotes
Renu Krishnadas
One of the sisters who commissioned and financed Kadangotu House.
“My sister and I were both working. Then we said, ‘Let’s not involve our husbands financially, so they won’t have much say in it. Let us use only our money, pocket money or whatever money we have, to build it.’ That’s how we started, like a women’s power move.”
thebetterindia.com
“We are specialists in climate-responsive design. With any project we do, we make it a point to ensure that it responds to the environment. We don’t create spaces that automatically get heated up, so that we then need to spend electricity cooling them.”
thebetterindia.com
Sources
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