Butterflies Resilience Centre: A Home with Heart
This project in Jaunapur proves we can build warm, safe homes using low-carbon methods and a whole lot of care.
An introductory look at the Butterflies Resilience Centre, nestled within Jaunapur village in Delhi. The design's goal is to provide a safe, nurturing environment that integrates sustainable living principles, from its construction to its daily function.
The front facade of the Centre features hand-painted rotating louvers. These panels, with warm red tones on the outside, protect the south-facing cafe from the harsh sun while adding a playful, artistic element to the building's exterior.
Watch the illustrated sun-shading louvers in action. They can be turned to control the light and create different visual patterns, blurring the line between art and architecture and providing a dynamic facade for the children's home.
The view from inside the cafe at night. The hand-painted louvers, featuring cool blue and green tones on the interior side, become a beautiful, illuminated piece of art, creating a magical atmosphere for the children.
Listen to Rita Panicker, the Executive Director of the Butterflies NGO, share her experience of the building's positive atmosphere. She highlights the free-flowing air and natural light, which are direct results of our passive design approach.
A close-up of the upcycled 'jharokha' window, which was once part of a haveli from 1912. By reusing old doors and windows, we give materials a new life and embed a sense of history and story into the new building.
Children looking out from the windows of the Centre. The design incorporates multiple levels of visual connection, fostering a sense of community and openness within the home.
The deep plan of the building is pierced by whitewashed courtyards that bring daylight and fresh air down to the basement level. These courtyards are the lungs of the building, allowing for natural ventilation and evaporative cooling.
A view looking up from another courtyard, this one with earthy-toned walls and bright green window frames. The use of color and texture helps define different spaces and creates a visually rich environment.
Here, I explain how we treat the rooftop as the "new ground" in dense urban areas. The roof at the Butterflies Centre houses solar panels for electricity, a solar hot water system, and space for a future garden, making it a productive and usable area.
About The Butterflies Resilience Centre: A Home with Heart
We didn't just build walls here; we turned the earth excavated from the basement into 70% of the bricks used in the structure. Those hand-painted, rotating louvers you see on the facade are not just art—they are active shading systems that keep the cafe cool while giving the children inside something beautiful to imagine stories around. It is architecture that actually works for the people living in it.
Architecture as a Catalyst for Change
The Butterflies Resilience Centre in Jaunapur is a model for small-scale urban regeneration. When we looked at the site, we realized that in dense urban village contexts, we have to rethink how we use space. We treated the rooftop as the new ground, installing solar panels and solar hot water systems to generate nearly half of the building's electricity needs.
Designing for Comfort and Well-being
Our approach is grounded in passive design. We used a 'deep plan' strategy, piercing the building with whitewashed courtyards. These act as the lungs of the structure, allowing fresh air to flow and light to penetrate all the way to the basement. To combat the harsh south-west sun, we designed rotating louvers. On the outside, they have warm, earthy tones; inside, they are painted in cool blues and greens, creating an ever-changing visual environment for the children.
Upcycling History
True sustainability means working with what you have. We sourced beautiful, salvaged doors and windows from a 1912 haveli. These pieces carry history, and they found a new purpose here, creating a sense of continuity. By mixing these reclaimed elements with modern techniques like stabilized earth blocks, we built a space that is not only ecologically responsible but also emotionally nurturing. It is proof that we don't need expensive, energy-guzzling technology to create a home that feels alive.
Ashok B Lall
I have been practicing architecture since 1980, always asking one question: what is more sustainable than using the resources right in front of us? My goal is to create spaces that bring true khushali (well-being) to everyone who walks through the door. I believe in buildings that breathe, use local earth, and hold memories.
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