Designed by Yellow Door Architects, Split House transforms a challenging urban site into a calm sanctuary. A central void divides the built mass, bringing daylight, air and privacy into the heart of the home.
Set on an east-facing corner plot in one of Bengaluru’s densest neighbourhoods, Split House, designed by Yellow Door Architects, responds to a site defined by pressure from every side. Built edges close in from the west and north, while busy roads line the south and east. A school along the rear edge adds to the constant movement and noise. Within these constraints, the 9,500 sq ft residence is conceived as a calm urban retreat, balancing privacy with openness while allowing natural light and ventilation to shape the interiors. The project explores how thoughtful spatial planning can create a sense of respite without disconnecting the home from its surroundings.
Rather than turning inward completely or compromising on openness, the design seeks a quieter middle ground. Split House explores how a home can create a sense of retreat from the city while remaining connected to natural light, air, and the rhythms of everyday life.
At its heart is a simple design question: how can a home insulate itself from the chaos outside without losing its connection to the elements? The answer unfolds through a carefully planned interior where spatial separation, openness and controlled views work together to create a calm domestic environment within a demanding urban setting.
The answer lies in subtraction. The built mass is divided at its centre, carving out a vertical void that becomes the spatial and environmental anchor of the house. This single incision transforms a demanding plot into an inwardlooking sanctuary. Daylight penetrates deep into the plan through the void, while external openings remain deliberately controlled. The split resolves what the site denies: light, air, and a sense of room to breathe.
Two primary volumes flank this central void, connected across each level by glazed bridges. Movement through the house is choreographed along these bridges, and each crossing becomes a moment of suspension above the triple-height space below. The transparency of the bridges reinforces spatial continuity between floors while preserving acoustic separation between the more public and more private areas of the home.
The house formally begins on the first floor, where residents enter into a lightfilled volume that rises through three levels. At the centre of this volume sits the puja room, conceived as a sanctum within a sanctum. Light filters from above, washing over stone-lined surfaces and deepening the contemplative quality of the space. Around it, the first floor distributes its programme along either side of the void: dining and kitchen on one flank, living and bedroom spaces on the other, maintaining visual connectivity without compromising privacy.
Upper-level bedrooms are accessed via the glazed bridges and planned with en-suites and walk-in closets, ensuring each occupant has a measure of autonomy within the larger collective space. The third floor houses the master suite and a media room. The master bedroom features a custom marble-clad headboard wall that conceals a recessed study niche, a quiet retreat folded into the fabric of the room. The level opens onto a private terrace, an elevated pause from the city below.
Externally, the facade is clad in light-toned stone, tempering the solidity of the mass. Balconies and decks are staggered along the east-facing corner, positioned between the shielded south-east edge and a protective northern wall. Recessed openings introduce pockets of green, softening the architectural envelope while buffering the interior from the urban grain beyond.
The material logic continues inward. Stone from the facade wraps into the triple-height core, blurring the boundary between outside and in. The remaining spaces adopt muted flooring and wall finishes, allowing artwork and curated objects to carry colour. Timber accents thread through the interiors, adding warmth against the restraint of marble and stone.
Split House is ultimately an exercise in controlled openness. By turning inward, it creates the very things its site withholds: light, calm, and spatial generosity within a dense and demanding urban fabric.
Photographers: Jubin Johnson (Hansoga Photography)
