London, United Kingdom

Sahrdc (south Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre)

SAHRDC (South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre) is a Delhi based NGO attracting students and scholars from universities in India and abroad.

It required an office to be made on a 50 sqm plot, keeping in mind the efficiency of space and cost effective construction.

Site response

Delhi, in its development since the 1960s, has grown to include many rural settlements within its urban sprawl. These urban villages are organic in their growth and are not restricted by the development controls of planned urban developments. The site is located at the very edge of a planned, plotted, urban expansion and is its interface with the nearby urban village. The immediacy of a busy street corner and the need to provide a buffer without losing valuable floor area are important design generators.

The orientation of the site is such that the longer 10m side is exposed to direct sun throughout the day leading to massive heat gain for the interior spaces of the edifice. Ensuring that this solar thermal gain is kept to a minimum was a key concern

The wall

The most interesting feature is the brick masonry screen to the west and the street. Drawing inspiration from traditional, ornately carved facades, the wall is designed to be an animated, dynamic skin for the structure reflecting the bustle of the street and activating what would otherwise have been a mundane façade with minimal fenestrations. The porosity of the wall maintains a degree of privacy for the occupants while playfully engaging with the street corner. The rippling undulations comprise of numerous twirling facets which mimic the self-shadowing techniques employed in traditional South Asian architecture to reduce surface thermal heat gain.

The construction of the wall

The construction of the screen wall was a result of a five-week process of learning and un-learning masonry techniques on site. From verification of plumbness to the structural bonding of the brick courses, methods of brick laying were devised through a deep on-site collaboration between the masons and the architects.

Internal section- sandwich roof

In order to create a beamless soffit on each floor without increasing the thickness of the slab, a gently vaulting roof was designed. Lateral inverted beams were introduced and flooring laid onto an infill so that each floor plate was thermally and acoustically insulated. The architects were keen to create an office area that was single consolidated volume on each floor that could be flexibly partitioned as per the clients changing requirements.

Technical Information

Site Area: 50 sqm.

Built-up Area: 172 sqm.

Europaconcorsi Beta

Sahrdc (south Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre)