Mukesh Maheshwari house

One of the first principles of sustainable and environmentally friendly architecture is to reduce the embodied energy used in construction. The project sits in a location that experiences contrasting climate and extreme diurnal variations throughout the day and night. This helped to give expression to the primary design principle in this project.

In summer during the daytime, the stone absorbs heat, which in turn transfers the heat to the cavity, thereby heating the air within. The air is allowed to leave from the weep holes provided at the ends of the vault. When the air leaves, pressure reduces in the cavity, which pulls air inside from the other weep hole, forming a continuous cycle of air flow that keeps the inner spaces cool. These weep holes are concealed with cigarette buds that acts as a barrier for rats and insects from entering the space, allowing only airflow through them.

As such, the context, climate and culture were the drivers of not just the bungalow's material palette, but also of its design and construction sensibilities – qualities that meld together to lend a unique character to the project.

The house has a layout of four vaulted spaces arranged on two floors. Each vault is double layered – a stone vault over a brick vault, with an air cavity in between acting as an insulation, especially in the winters. Air being a poor conductor of heat due to its inherent properties, acts as a barrier to heat transfer when used as a packing material between the two layers of the roof.