Kozhikode · 2024 · Built from Sharjah
SAMPLE — The Calicut courtyard house
A 4,200 sqft home for a Sharjah-based home owner who didn't see the site between the first contract signing and walkthrough at handover.
The brief
A house that breathes through its centre.
The home owner had grown up in Calicut, then spent 22 years in the Gulf. The brief: a contemporary courtyard house — open to the sky in the middle, closed at the edges. Cross-ventilation through every room. Spaces large enough for the extended family that visits during summer holidays.
The home owner came to us after another effort with a different builder ended without a signed contract. We did one design phase, one budget review, one contract, and started.
Watched from Sharjah, week by week.
Foundation
Soil bearing test, footing pours, plinth complete. Photo log: 142 images.
Ground floor RCC
Columns, beams, slab pour. M30 grade concrete; cube tests filed in dashboard.
First floor + roof
Slab pour, parapet, terrace waterproofing layer one.
Masonry + plastering
External and internal walls, two coats plaster, courtyard cladding.
MEP rough-in
Electrical, plumbing, HVAC. All conduit pressure-tested before close.
Finishes
Flooring, joinery, kitchen, bathrooms, paint, light fixtures.
Handover
Walkthrough, snag list, defect closure, keys.
"I never set foot on the site between January and the handover walkthrough. I watched the dashboard. I read the weekly report. Every photograph showed what they said it would."
What's in the walls.
| Cement | UltraTech / ACC | OPC 53 grade |
| Steel | Tata Tiscon / SAIL | Fe-550D, BIS-marked |
| Bricks | Local clay, kiln-fired | Tested for compressive strength |
| Flooring | Italian marble (living), engineered oak (bedrooms) | Specified at design phase |
| Joinery | Teak (doors), birch ply (cabinetry) | Made in our partner workshop |
| Paint | Asian Paints Royale / Apex | Two coats primer, two coats finish |
Six months in
How is the home holding up?
Six months after handover, we visited again. Two minor items — a sticking door, a cabinet hinge — were closed under the one-year warranty within a week. The waterproofing held through the 2024 monsoon without incident. Photos and a short note are filed in the home owner's record.