House of Courts

A suburban retreat set in 2.5 acres of land in the outskirts of New Delhi, this home combines nostalgia for fast disappearing sprawling traditional family homes with a modern ecological sensibility.  It provides the residents a spatially rich & visually arresting setting for their relatively secluded & book oriented lifestyle and a home for their possessions collected over a lifetime during working sojourns in varied countries across the globe.

Designed around a multiplicity of lushly planted courtyards, the differing treatment of each courtyard helps to imbue the progression through the house with different experiences at each pause. While driven by a budget, the clients did not want to sacrifice spaciousness - their rationale of locating to a country home. Novel detailing with the use of inexpensive materials, and a minimization of the use of expensive elements like hardwood were employed to cut costs.

Ecological interventions include complete water recycling including grey and black water via a non chemical based recycling system, rain water harvesting ( including channelization & harvesting of even off site water that used to collect in this patch of land earlier) , use of solar energy for water heating & the use of local as well as recycled materials in the house.