‘The Great room’, lovingly called the ‘loggia’ is a folly-like jewel box suspended mid-air with the support of an exposed concrete and glass block tower added to house a brand new elevator. Envisioned as a multi-purpose family space that could be used as an office and meeting space or a room to entertain guests or even as a venue for hosting the occasional music ‘baithak’, as the clients as Indian classical music aficionados. The project took shape with the idea of connecting the ground with the upper level by providing an alternate entry point into the first-floor dwelling for residents and visitors.

This steel and glass addition atop an existing 1960’s residential building situated on Delhi’s busy outer ring road was designed to closely mimic the experience of the terrace that had once existed in its place – and hence allowed the occupants to sit embraced by the mature Neem, Ashoka and Champa trees directly outside, without having to leave the sanctuary of the conditioned and sealed interior space. The addition of glass panels between the Great Room and the existing living room directly adjacent to it meant that one could extend views from deep inside the house all the way to the street outside.

The boat shaped roof floats on a masonry and steel framework with large glazing inserts that allow in plentiful light from all directions to wash the entire space including the underside of the ceiling, and creating occasional vistas to specific points of focus outside – the sky and the trees.

The interior has been deliberately kept simple in order to create a canvas for the client’s collection of exquisite pieces of furniture, furnishings and eclectic art. The black granite floor and the richly stained wooden ceiling evoke a very Southern Indian sensibility harking back to the childhood years of the lady of the house.