THE HOUSE OF SOLID STONE

Located in Jaipur, the house allowed its architects to explore and develop a building method common in traditional buildings for centuries. We laid out a simple brief: no material other than stone should be used for construction. This made us dive deeply into the art of “making” with stone and the first sketches were the confluence of traditional knowledge reinforced with cutting-edge engineering. The traditional method of load-bearing construction relied on the impermeable thickness of walls. This was engineered to develop a hollow interlocking structural wall system that creates a more effective thermal break, provides space to integrate services within the wall cavity, and effectively reduces material consumption by 30%.

Floor systems alternate between vaults and large single-span stone pieces. Every building element from the basement raft, retaining walls, lintels, door and window jambs, reveals, stairs, screens, etc. has been made from stone blocks, either from the quarry (superstructure elements) or excavated from the site (substructure elements). The house is arranged around a narrow courtyard that extends into even narrower slits and fissures as it weaves its way through the house, essentially drawing on the proportions of voids and interstitial spaces of traditional dwellings as a method to counter the effect of the harsh summer sun. Large front and rear-facing glazing are shaded by deep overhangs and operable, hand-cut stone screens to modulate light, privacy, and views.