Project: Planar House
Architects: DADA Partners
Location: New Delhi, India
Area: 15,000 sf
Year: 2023
Photographs by: Ranjan Sharma / Lightzone India
Planar House isn’t your typical dwelling. Concrete slabs cast dramatic shadows, forming a canvas for the sun’s ever-shifting light. The west-facing entry leads to formal areas bathed in the setting sun, while a tropical courtyard offers a cool counterpoint.
Inside, an east-facing courtyard with water features and greenery blurs the lines between indoors and outdoors. Upstairs, a central art studio with a terrace overlooks this tranquil space. Beyond the main house, a meditation pyramid and poolside entertainment complex provide unique areas for reflection and fun. It is a harmonious blend of bold architecture, nature, and dedicated family spaces.
Planar house is an exploration of assembling a series of detached monolithic planar volumes along the main body of the home. This layered assembly and the resulting gaps create unexpected chasm-like spatial experiences. The cast-in-situ rugged concrete planar wall, along with stucco walls on the upper levels, emerge from the F-shaped house plan and take on the role of being a two-sided canvas for the sun to impart it’s constantly shifting shadows.
A west-facing one-acre property meant for us a chance to capture the setting sun, as well as the morning sun. The west-facing entry drive court is defined by two expansive freestanding concrete walls with muted stucco volumes sitting above it. This muted expression directs the gaze towards the intimate glass-encased entry lobby. The formal lounge and bar are situated behind the west-facing concrete wall, with a tropical court sandwiched between the two. The master bedroom suite is located behind the second wall, which helps give complete privacy to the space. The dining room is a double-height family lounge, and the stair hall occupies the center of the house, while the puja room, the guest bedroom, and the kitchen occupy the farther end or eastern end of the plan.
All these rooms, except the master suite, look into the landscaped east-facing internal courtyard. A series of reflective waterbodies, flowering trees, the constant play of sun and shade, and the unrestricted connection with the indoor spaces help imbibe a biophilic design element with the everyday life of the family. The upper floor has 4 bedrooms and an eclectic painting room cum study in the center of the house. This well-used artistic space looks into the double-height lounge below and spills onto the central terrace with views towards the eastern court. The brief from the client also called for multiple follies to be set up in the landscape. A meditation room was designed as a pyramidal structure and capped with a glass roof.
This anthropomorphic spatial construct was scaled as a space for personal reflection while allowing calibrated moments of connection with nature. On the other end, the Out-house block holds a bar, gymnasium, and changing rooms. In the center of this very transparent and porous block is set the swimming pool. This intimate tropical oasis allows the family to entertain guests all year round, in setting a that blends in with nature.
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