Climate-Responsive
Homes for Bengaluru

Before a plan is drawn we read the plot: where the sun falls in April, where the prevailing breeze enters, which trees are worth keeping, how water moves across the ground in a Bengaluru monsoon. Those readings set the geometry of the house. A home that is correctly oriented and correctly shaded is already most of the way to being a green home — everything after that is refinement.

This is why our houses look different from one another. There is no Wright Inspires template, because no two sites answer the same questions.

Filler slabs with terracotta or clay pots cut roof heat gain and concrete volume at once. Terracotta jaalis let air through while cutting glare. Thick stone and earth walls flatten the daily temperature swing. Courtyards and double-height voids pull warm air up and out, drawing cooler air in behind it. Lily ponds and planted terraces cool the air before it reaches the rooms.

The result in most of our Bengaluru houses is interiors that sit several degrees below outside temperature through the hottest months, with fans instead of compressors.

Rainwater harvesting sized to roof area and to the household's real demand. Greywater recycled to the garden. Biogas from kitchen waste where the family will use it. Solar water heating and rooftop PV planned into the roof at design stage rather than bolted on later. These systems are cheapest and least visible when they are decided early — which is the case for bringing an ecologically-minded architect in before, not after, the plan is fixed.

Our work has been published by ArchDaily, The Hindu, Surfaces Reporter, GoodHomes, Buildofy and The Arch Diaries, and recognised at the Indian Architecture & Design Awards, the UltraTech Design Awards and the Indian Concrete Institute awards. Awards are not the point, but they are useful evidence that the approach holds up outside our own studio.