An H-shaped plan, drawn by the Assam climate.

Assam is hot, humid, washed by long monsoons. The house is an H: two living wings, a central glazed spine holding them apart.

The opening at the heart of the H pulls cross-breeze through the house and daylight deep into every room. The spine links the wings and frames the garden and the sky beyond. Deep eaves, shaded verandas. The house stays cool and dry through the wet Assam year.

The ground floor splits into two wings: kitchen, utility and a bedroom on one side; dining and living on the other. A planted courtyard and passage runs through the centre. That gap is the breathing space of the plan: it carries air and light between the wings and keeps the gardens flowing into the house. The section steps up through the same spine, from the sunken level to the ridge.

The mature trees and gardens stay. The house settles in among them, low and open. Next door is a community ground that hosts the annual Bihu celebrations; the house opens to it: room for big gatherings and outdoor celebration, and for quiet mornings in the garden.

The clarity comes from Japanese and Vietnamese planning; the warmth comes from home. Carved-timber cornices and window surrounds sit against the plain white walls: Assamese craft, held to a few lines. Built in, and quiet.

Behind the calm, the house is worked out around how a large family lives day to day, and built to change with them over the years. Once the children move on, the house can take in guests as a boutique homestay with very little altered.

The central courtyard pulls sky and daylight down into the heart of the plan, its edges softened by hanging greenery. On the other side of the house, a sheltered balcony holds the evening: the garden, the hills and the Assam sunset.