The project, set on a picturesque 9-acre site in Indian Himalayas has been designed for a brief encompassing four individual buildings - including independent homes for two brothers, a common entertainment building and a parking structure. The site for the project comprised of a series of erstwhile agricultural terraces that have since been converted into residential land. The backdrop for this estate is the revered ‘karol-ka-tibba’ mountain that forms a mighty setting for the upcoming buildings.

The site was divided into two main levels separated by a height of about 5 meters. While the lower level, accessed directly from the street below had several existing buildings on it - including an original house built for the clients’ family, staff quarters and several service and utility buildings - the upper levels consisted of the original agricultural terraces. This part of the site was being used by the clients as an organic farm and also had several mature trees that the buildings had to negotiate.

Owing to the clients’ desire for a raw aesthetic and a minimal yet refined vocabulary, the architecture was conceptualized as being elemental in its essence employing carefully chosen materials – exposed concrete and stone for the walls, insulated aluminum glazing for the openings and zinc roof.

The L-shaped parking structure at the lower level commanded an entrance forecourt in front of it. An elevator tower that provided convenient access between the two levels acted as a totem to draw the viewer’s attention to the buildings on the upper level. A gentle ramp was also added to provide access to cars to the upper level where the main buildings were.

The locations of the three main buildings were carefully designed to respond to the gentle slopes and levels that existed at the site so as to cause minimal damage to the existing topography. The forms of the buildings were generated as a response to the trees that stood at the site in order to maximize and amplifying views towards the valley and the mountains and vistas immediately surrounding the site.