This modest building has a challenging site at the boundary between a new development in Delhi and an urban slum. The immediacy of the busy street and the site’s orientation towards direct sun necessitated the creation of a thermal and acoustic buffer. It was also important to engage with the community, so the solution was to flank the open-plan floor plates with a circulation zone. A repeating module of rotating bricks animates the street facade and enables air to circulate through the porous central section in the idiom of traditional South Asian brise-soleils or 'jalis'. The exposed brickwork and vaulted ceilings celebrate local craftsmanship while keeping down building costs.

Source:

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 2011.