Sustainable Home Design & Passive Architecture

True sustainability means using what is already there. For the Butterflies Children's Home, we sourced beautiful second-hand doors and windows from the area. More importantly, we excavated a basement and used the mitti, the earth from the site itself, to create 70% of the bricks for the building. It is a simple, powerful way to build with respect for our resources.

The courtyard is the heart of a home. This architectural section drawing shows how a central open space can bring natural light and hawa deep into every room. It creates a shared space for families to connect and ensures the home feels alive and ventilated, reducing the need for artificial lighting and cooling.

I often think of my own bachpan ka ghar, a big, rambling house full of places to explore. I brought that memory into the design for the Butterflies Children's Home. I wanted to create a place where children could find their own corners, from the ground floor to the courtyards and all the way up to the rooftop, to look out at the world.

We blend traditional wisdom with modern solutions. For this home in Defence Colony, we designed these movable, perforated metal screens. They function like a modern jaali, blocking the harsh sun while allowing diffused light and air to pass through, keeping the home cool and reducing energy consumption.

This is a view looking up from within one of our courtyard designs. You can see how the architecture is designed to embrace the open sky, pulling light down into the living spaces. These central courtyards are fundamental to creating homes that breathe and feel connected to nature.

In dense urban villages where open ground is scarce, we must think differently. For the Butterflies Children's Home in Delhi, we treated the rooftop as the new ground. It became a space for solar panels to generate electricity, for solar heaters, and most importantly, a safe, open area for the children to enjoy.