Studio Wadhal, founded by Fahad Malik, redefines architecture by creating spaces rooted in personal stories and heritage, blending South Asian motifs with modern design. Their Stepwell House in London exemplifies this approach, featuring steel mesh elements and a gabion stepwell that reflect cultural traditions while offering a fresh, functional aesthetic.
Every space tells a story, whether you want it to or not. Shaped by the people, memories and experiences inhabited by it, a space is transformed into a home or a playground or an office. And nowadays with the uniformity caused by social media, in which all aesthetics and tropes have been merged into one norm of what cool and chic is, it is rare to find a place that is designed for the people that inhabit it and not by what their phones are telling them.
Studio Wadhal, a London based architecture studio founded in 2010 by Pakistani architect Fahad Malik is trying to collaborate with its clients to create something entirely shaped by their world and their stories. The name of the studio, ‘Wadhal’ itself comes from a place of deep belonging and tradition. Referring to a tribal name from Mianwali in Pakistan which is where Malik’s family is from, the studio is trying to incorporate and centre elements that are either overlooked or looked down upon to create spaces that feel fresh and grounded.
One such project of theirs is home in London, The Stepwell House. Divided into three parts, an art gallery, an outdoor stepwell and a residence, the space takes a lot of its inspiration from South Asian motifs. With the stepwell transformed into a gabion landscape and also becoming the focal point of the house, reflecting the client’s own personal heritage.
The common thread in the whole space is the steel mesh, steel also being an integral part of most South Asian households, from our utensils to our almirahs. You can see the steel in the stepwell, where the mesh is filled with stones to create individual steps and in the kitchen where it's used to create shelves. Every corner of the house has this unifying element, and yet at the same time the material is used in a different way everywhere showcasing the absolute elasticity of it.
The Stepwell House feels like it was designed to be lived in. Nothing here has been borrowed from a mood board. The steel that holds up our kitchens and fills our wedding trousseaus finds a new life as shelves and steps, and a stepwell, once a place where people gathered and lingered, becomes the heart of a home in London.
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