Over our heads

As part of the sale agreement, our developer had put down a design guideline requiring that about seventy percent of the home be covered with a sloping roof. Along the way, as more home constructions began, this requirement was made less stringent.

While our preliminary plan was to build a cantilevered sloping roof, I wanted to explore alternatives. The design team put their heads together and came up with a few options for consideration.

Conventional flat roof without cantilever

One idea was to replace the tiled roof with a conventional flat roof - the design included columns supporting the external decks to balance the profile. This would eliminate the cost of the tiled roof. The top slab would be larger offering more space for any future solar panels. However, I didn't like the idea of the columns disrupting the 180 degree views from the decks.

Flat roof with cantilevered sections

A variation of this option in the next

image has a flat roof with cantilevered overhangs. These overhangs have a tapered profile reducing their visual weight and mass.

The erstwhile west roof area can support a landscaped deck, the eastern deck extends the existing terrace area.

Higher ceiling bedroom and flat roof

A further variation has a raised flat roof on the west providing a higher ceiling height for the master bed room. However this would require elimination of the terrace garden above it. It would also expose the master bedroom to the summer heat from the southern glass sections. Finally the slimmer east roof profile makes the elevation somewhat unbalanced.

V shaped slanting roof

Next we tried a whimsical roof profile that to my laymans eye resulted in an odd 'raised eyebrow' type western elevation that didnt sit well with me. This would also complicate roof water harvesting design. We put this aside after a quick review. After looking through all these options, I felt that our original concept using large sloped cantilevered tiles roofs still remained the most attractive option.

The final design sports large sloped roofs, with built in gutters to harvest the rain water and channel it into the underground tanks. Both the master bedroom and the guest room can now sport ceilings that are nearly 20 feet above at the highest point. The deck slabs are tapered at the ends giving the structure a sleek profile. The bedrooms under the sloped roof have an additional round sealed glass window permitting natural light during the day.

Finalised roof design

Going through this process, I was really gratified that our design team enabled me to visualise and choose a desired roof design using accurate computer renditions !

...Age is just a very large number

...Leaving my mark

For centuries, architects and engineers have struggled against the elements, devising ever more rigid and fortified structures to withstand nature’s forces. Yet, some of the most enduring marvels of architecture have taken an alternative approach—one of flexibility and adaptation rather than sheer resistance. Consider the pagodas of Japan, standing tall for centuries in earthquake-prone regions, their secret lying in the shinbashira—a central wooden pillar that allows the structure to sway and dissipate seismic energy rather than crumble.

At Sukoon, nestled at the foot slopes of the Nandi Hills, we faced a similar challenge—how to design a roof that would withstand the high winds sweeping across the rugged terrain. Rather than fighting nature, we took inspiration from these historical lessons and engineered a solution that allows the roof to respond dynamically to the forces acting upon it. We call it the Trembling Roof.

The cantilevered roof has a metal frame anchored in the concrete roof, with Portuguese terracotta roof tiles. During design and testing, it became clear that traditional bracing or reinforcement would either compromise the aesthetics or fail to address the dynamic nature of the wind loads.

Rather than opting for passive reinforcement, we chose an approach that allows the structure to react intelligently to wind forces. The answer lay in an innovative metallic spring-like detail positioned beneath the roof—an element that permits slight movement when wind pressure increases and then pushes back to restore the roof to its original position.

This system works much like a shock absorber, softening the impact of sudden forces while preventing long-term structural fatigue. Instead of resisting movement altogether, the Trembling Roof dampens oscillations, ensuring that wind-induced vibrations do not escalate into damaging resonance.

The concept of a structure that moves in harmony with its environment rather than standing in opposition to it is not new. Skyscrapers like Taipei 101 use massive tuned mass dampers—enormous pendulums that counteract wind sway. In nature, bamboo forests survive storms by bending rather than breaking. Even the wings of an airplane are designed to flex in flight, reducing turbulence and stress.

The Trembling Roof at Sukoon applies this philosophy in the context of home design, allowing for graceful movement rather than rigid defiance. It transforms a potential weakness into a dynamic strength, ensuring that the home remains both beautiful and resilient.

Much like the Japanese pagoda or the adaptive bridges of the modern era, Sukoon’s roof demonstrates that sometimes, the best way to withstand nature’s forces is not as a rigid defiance of the wind, but as a graceful, intelligent dance with it.