New Delhi, India
The following description is courtesy of Anagram Architects.
Our clients for this northwest-facing residence, in Delhi, are members of 3 generations of a joint family. Built on a narrow 326 sqm. plot, their home faces a busy city road in a dense precinct. The design reconciles the acute lack of visual privacy on the site with their desire for an open, light-filled and convivial home that brings together their family and their friends.
Our approach steps away from conventional circulation and spatial arrangements, typical to such plotted residences (that share party walls), by considering the built volume as a breached monolith rather than as a composition of fenestrated volumes and surface renders.
© Andre Fanthome 
Suryan//Dang
Faceted and insulated stone facades protect the house from the lack of privacy to the front, and similarly the service areas, ensuites, and closets are planned at the rear to mitigate southern heat gain.
© Andre Fanthome 
© Andre Fanthome © Andre Fanthome
The deep void carved out, bridged at the front and rear on the upper levels, creates a meandering, naturally ventilated and social courtyard at the heart of the residence, pulling in views and balconies from all the rooms of the house.
© Andre Fanthome 
© Andre Fanthome
It draws ample light, softened by white and wood surface renders and the rooftop glazing, deep into the basement. The cross-ventilation of the atrium, controlled by operating the windows on the bridges, can be enhanced through thermal stacking in the summer months aided by an evaporative cooler for humidification and through a wind tunnel effect during the monsoons.
Project Details
Project: Cleft House
Location: New Delhi, India
Architect: Anagram Architects
Design Team: Vaibhav Dimri, Madhav Raman, Vineet Dhall
Site Area: 3512 sqft
Project Area: 14425 sqft
Civil Contractors: Adhunik Infrastructures
Structural Engineers: Arohi Consultants
Other Consultants: ELECTRICAL Electropower
Plumbing Consultant- DSR ENGINEERING SERVICES
PLUMBING – RN Sahoo & Sons
Site Supervision: Anagram Architects
Model-Maker: Inhouse
Initiation of Project: November 2015
Completion of Project: October 2018
Photo Credit: André Jeanpierre Fanthome, Suryan//Dang
