Soil Stories

"Architecture has its own realm. It has a special physical relationship with life" - Ar. Peter Zumthor

Chess Academy & Community Pavilion, Kozhikode

Set within a 14-acre family estate, Soil Stories is a landscape-led intervention that redefines a retired educator’s passion into a shared space for learning and community. The client, Mr. Manoj—a former teacher at JDT School and a FIDE-rated chess player—initially approached us to design a small chess academy. Through the design process, this brief evolved into a multi-functional pavilion that also supports his long-standing interest in mentorship and motivational speaking.

Landscape as First Principle

Before designing, the entire 14-acre site was surveyed and mapped, identifying existing vegetation, water bodies, slopes, and microhabitats. The 60-cent project footprint was then placed within this ecological framework, ensuring minimal disturbance.
All planting on site was derived from the estate itself—no decorative plants were introduced—reinforcing a self-grown and contextually rooted landscape.

Architecture that Sits Within Nature

The built form is organised around existing trees and contours, with the roof responding to the canopy lines. Open verandahs, stepped seating, and shaded platforms allow the activities—chess training, talks, small gatherings—to flow seamlessly between indoor and outdoor spaces. Materiality is restrained and earthy: oxide finishes, terracotta jaalis, exposed concrete, and recycled roofing sheets blend the structure into the plantation setting.

The roof form opens upto the field and also has a spatial relation to the existing tamarind tree at the site.Carefully curated outdoor spaces has a natural setting as the main focal element.

A Space for Learning & Community

The academy houses a dedicated indoor chess hall while the pavilion functions as an adaptable community space for workshops, informal events, and public interactions. The design encourages slow movement, observation, and pause—qualities inherent to both chess and the landscape itself.

A Project Rooted in Purpose

Soil Stories becomes a continuation of the client’s life in education, transforming a personal ambition into a place of collective value. It demonstrates how architecture can emerge from land, memory, and compassion—quietly supporting both people and the environment.

Form & Spatial Organisation

The pavilion is organised across three distinct levels, responding to the site's gentle contour. These platforms create a natural sequence of movement: arrival, learning, and gathering. Each level opens differently to the landscape, offering a variety of spatial conditions for chess training, workshops, and community events.

A defining gesture of the project is the large sloping roof that appears to swallow the structural mass beneath it. This form negotiates a significant existing tamarind tree—lifting and dipping to accommodate its canopy while opening wide toward the adjoining green field. The building feels perched under this singular roof, grounded yet visually light, as if held within the landscape rather than placed on it.

Materiality & Construction Logic

Material choices remain restrained and context-friendly: oxide-finished walls, terracotta jaalis for filtered ventilation, exposed concrete frames, and composite cellulosic bitumen roofing sheets. The palette allows the structure to recess into the plantation environment, prioritising shade, ventilation, and unobstructed views toward the field and pond.

Intent

Soil Stories extends the client’s lifelong commitment to education into a landscape-driven architectural form. It demonstrates the possibility of designing around ecology, memory, and purpose—where the land guides the architecture, and the building becomes a quiet enabler for learning and community.

Architecture Photography : Running Studios