Eighteen Screens by Sanjay Puri Architects
Designed for four generations to live together, with the oldest housed at the ground level and the younger generations on the floors above, 18 screens by Sanjay Puri Architects create multiple private spaces whilst integrating them together. By Aarthi Sriram
Situated in Lucknow, a city in India that has a rich heritage with numerous buildings dating back to the 18th century, the site for this house lies along a busy arterial road and is on the peripheral edge of an extensive plotted development for private homes.
The house plan refers to the traditional Indian courtyard house in response to the climate of the location. Temperatures in the lengthy summer months are in excess of 35° C, with the sun in the southern hemisphere. The extensive requirements of this six-bedroom house are interspersed with sheltered open terraces and landscaped gardens around a two-floor high naturally ventilated courtyard. In addition to 6 bedrooms, the client’s brief necessitated a prayer room, a study, a movie lounge, and utility areas. Each space within the house opens into sheltered open terraces and decks.
Patterned screens are derived from traditional Indian architecture and the famous Lucknow ‘chikan’ embroidery covers the outdoor seating areas for each room on the south, west, and east sides. These screens provide shelter from the sun, create different light patterns throughout the day, and mitigate traffic noise from the busy arterial road on the southern side. The use of these screens helps reduce the heat substantially thereby making the building more energy-efficient.
Large glass windows on the northern side allow indirect light to infuse the internal spaces of the house. Varying volumetric proportions with differing sectional spaces create an individual identity to each living space with the courtyard cohesively integrating them together.
Built almost entirely in raw concrete, a natural palette of sandstone and wood with muted colors, vivid Indian art, and landscape are brought together in different compositions in each of the internal volumes. A large garden on the north penetrating up to the internal courtyard between rooms has partial shadows at most times of the day allowing it to be used in the extensive summers too.
The use of screens to reduce heat, solar panels on the rooftop to harness energy for water heating and general lighting, recycling of water, water sewage treatment and reuse of water for gardening, rainwater harvesting, and facilitation of natural ventilation and lighting throughout the house render the design as sustainable and energy-efficient.
A series of experiences are created in this house that by its design facilitates natural ventilation and sunlight within and is simultaneously contextual to the location, sun articulation, tradition, culture, and social aspects.
Sanjay Puri, the Principal Architect of Sanjay Puri Architects, India has been a speaker and a judge at numerous international architecture events including the Leading European Architects Forum, The World Architecture Festival & The Perspective PLAN events held in London, Amsterdam, Bologna, Milan, Venice, Barcelona, Singapore, Berlin & Belgrade.
Winning the World’s Best Housing project at the World Architecture Festival 2018, Amsterdam and the World’s Best Residential Project of 2017 at the LEAF Awards, London, Sanjay Puri Architects have now won 140 international architecture awards.
Project Name: 18 SCREENS
Location: LUCKNOW, INDIA
Client Name: Mr. Rajesh Singh, Director, mddayalgroup@gmail.com
Start Date: October 2015
Completion Date: May 2019
Gross Floor Area: 8,500 SQ.FT. (790 SQ.M)
Architects: Nina & Sanjay Puri Architects
Lead Architects: Mrs. Nina Puri & Mr. Sanjay Puri
Design Team – Ruchika Gupta, Jinal Jain, Nivedita Raverkar, Nandita Rebello, Akanksha Singh, Swati Gadekar
Consultants:Interior design Consultant – Nina & Sanjay Puri Architects
Structure Consultant – Dr. Kelkar Design Pvt. Ltd.
Landscape Consultant – Envision
Services Consultant – SanelacPvt. Ltd.
Photo credits: Mr. Dinesh Mehta
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeP2nvnFodU
Suppliers:Windows: Ritika Woods, Fenesta
Paint: Asian Paints, Oikos
Bathroom Fixtures: Kohler, Grohe, Gessi
Kitchen fittings: Hafele, Miller, Siemens, Faber
