A modest 270 sq.m plot fits into its well manicured neighbourhood like the last piece of a jigsaw.

Positioned at a convergence, this irregular plot completes the larger whole, and in doing so becomes a very skewed, 5 sided triangle-polygon.

Like its shape, the design brief was also borne of eccentricities. A house for a single family, resulting in a seven storied built mass. A two levelled basement for sheer curiosity, a stilt floor for parking, and four subsequent floors above, with 2 individual floors and a duplex at the top.

The underlying intent, as is with the Delhi urban fabric lately, was space optimisation.

The primary task, therefore, was the plot shape itself.

The initial few design drafts were spent eschewing this hybrid shape and rationalising the internal spaces, before concluding that it works much better, to simply embrace the shape itself, and let the angles and corners flow into the design organically.

The longest face of the plot, the skewed 26m southern wall, was our major source of natural light, but also necessitated privacy from the immediate neighbours. The heat gain from this south sun also needed to be addressed.

The layout thus unfolds as 3 separate segments, running from east to west, bound together by two courts between them. These courts are deep punctures from the southern face.

These 2 deep wells on the southern face, hang as halves.

The first half of both are a zen court and water court respectively, that are open to sky. The other halves are an entrance foyer and an intermediary buffer court that are covered, inward spills of the open-to-sky courts.

Internally, both these courts act as double height interactives, with the living room perched as an island between them.

The open kitchen and dining, tied together by a single island monolith, sit to the west, and interact with the living room through the court, resulting in a fairly open floor layout.

The basement is a two levelled duplex on its own, with the dual courts sinking in as deep light-wells for natural light and ventilation. A peripheral mezzanine on 3 sides holds space for storage and a guest bed, while the lower level, with its double heights, serves primarily for lounging.

The periphery of the house, because of its immediate neighbours on all sides, offers only glimpses inward forprivacy,
through 6" slits, inducing a drama of light and shade along the way.

The main sources of light, the dual courts, complete the geometry of the house through a very site-specificshading system.

Devised as dense, solid wood shutters on pivots, the system is operated from the inside to allow light as perthe discretion of its inhabitants.

From the outside, the built mass sits as a monolith, punctured twice by columns of wood.

The palette reflects inward, with a similar monotone throughout; its greys peppered with the natural textures of the materials.

The floor, a synonymously coloured concrete, was an experiment gone awry, with the resultant cracks that appeared, similarly embraced with a brass-tinted resin filling, deriving a “kintsugi-like’ character of its own.

The 3-fragment layout, in tandem with the dual courts, also help christen the project ‘The House of Thirds’.

The project attempts to stand as evidence against the Builder Culture Development plaguing Delhi. With a design brief and context aligned within the said culture of space-maximisation and bare design intent of multi-family dwellings on a plot, the residence advocates itself as an example denouncing either.

The secondary task, was the plot shape itself; a skewed, 5 sided triangle-polygon positioned at a convergence.

The design embraces the awkward shape, to let the angles and corners flow organically.

The longest face of the plot, southern wall, was the major source of natural light, but also necessitated privacy from the immediate neighbours, and an addressal of this heat gain.

The layout thus unfolds as 3 separate segments, bound together by two courts between them. These courts are deep punctures from the southern face, completing the geometry of the house through a very site-specific shading system.

Devised as dense, solid wood shutters on pivots, the system is operated from the inside to allow light as perthe discretion of its inhabitants.