Making a splash

When I was recently speaking to a leading Bangalore based designer, she commented that she and her kids were looking forward to move into their independent home with a garden, shortly. She recollected that her childhood was spent growing up in lots of open spaces and she was glad that now her children would also have the same.

There has been a trend towards homes that are large and promote lung space. Likewise, a concept like a pergola seems to be making a splash quite literally in homes. A pergola is a type of gazebo and is an excellent choice for chic seating areas in swimming pool decks, balconies and gardens.

Design matters

Pergolas are structures used in the outdoor area of homes that can give the space an inviting and elegant look. They can also enhance the appeal of the outdoor space, depending on how they are designed to complement the outdoors. “They are used to control sunlight coming into semi-open areas in any space.

Pergolas are a brilliant solution for cooling a hot semi-open space (due to sunlight) and provide a simple solution to achieve ambient comfort as well as visual delight for a given space. The play of shade and light in the during day time is simply too good to put in words,” says Amitabh Bendre, Design Head, EVOK. Pergolas make for an immediate outdoor living space that is elegant, airy and close to nature. The roof with openings bring in the sky overhead minus its harsh glare cut off by the rafters of the pergola and maybe by the creeper you could grow on it. “Growing a grape vine is the regular choice of many people. Rafters could be wooden or metal sections and sometimes stone and concrete while the flooring could be of any rugged material that can withstand the environment outside and the choices provide the “tidy, untidy” feel of an eco resort,” says Anuradha Eswar, Chief Suitability Officer, BCIL Zed Homes.

Incidentally, Squarefoot recently launched its new and trendy range of wooden flooring for Pergolas and outdoor cladding. The new range can be used to customise pergolas and create wood cladding on exterior walls and is available in Burma Teak or Ipe as per customer requirements.

Space factor

A pergola allows for an extra room to use all year round as it offers protection from the sun as well as rain during the hot summer months and serves as a beautiful relaxation spot. It acts as an extension of the house, and children can also use it as an extra play area.  Any kind of space in which one needs to control sunlight due to lack of a constructed slab (by design or default) is fine to set up a pergola.

It simply requires a support on four corners and connecting beams.
The members of a pergola can just rest on this basic structure. Squarefoot can customise these pergolas as per the clients’ needs, ranging from a plain pergola to a swimming pool pergola for resorts or spas, from painted pergolas for purely decorative purposes to Timber clad houses.

The pergolas and wood cladding range is stylish and very easy to install.
Like all Squarefoot products, its durability is guaranteed by Squarefoot’s exclusive technology that preserves the natural beauty of the wood and also conditions the product to harsh outdoor usage.  Gaurav Saraf, Director, Square Foot, Bangalore explains, “A pergola has multiple benefits to offer as it can be used as an extension of one’s living space, it can also be used to entertain guests, be a relaxation spot whether at home or at a resort since it offers protection from the hot summer months and the monsoons.

Pergolas are decorative as well as functional as they add grace, comfort and style, complimented with protection and durability.

Our aim is to ensure our clients’ can experience the best of outdoor living in beauty and style since it can add charm to an otherwise plain backyard, pool, garden etc.

There have been many customers who’ve expressed a great desire in adding wood cladding to their exterior walls to create a log cabin effect.”

A wide choice

Many kinds of materials can be used for building a pergola, from basic materials like wooden logs, bamboo, old scrap railway logs to using structural steel and polycarbonate in combination. “Also a good old way of constructing is the same in RCC (the same material which is used to construct all contemporary buildings and bridges). One also must make sure that the design and look of the pergola compliments the facade of the house and not destroy the theme of the house. Automated pergolas are the way a pergola will function in the future,” opines Bendre. Usually these are spaces abutting a garden and so the whole panoramic view gets opened up to you under a pergola. The space lends itself nicely for a good breakfast nook during most times of the year, and for some quiet time to commune with nature or to become part of one.

“They make for a good entertainment area for your guests, too. Apart from creepers, you can have beautifully grown plants in pots hanging from the rafters giving that extra elegance to the whole build. The space not only adds instantaneously to the beauty of any living space, it also acts as a weather barrier, protecting your indoor area from harsh weather elements,” explains Eswar. So if you have the space, add a new dimension to your home – the pergola way!