Hikari House: Compact, Light-Filled Living in Meerut
Designed for a dense Meerut neighborhood, Hikari House proves that compact footprints can still offer generous, breathable living. We focused on light, airflow, and a custom modular screen to balance privacy with openness.
This video tells the story of Hikari House, from its context in old Meerut to the concept of resourceful, small-scale living. It shows how light courts and a modular facade create a home that is compact in size but generous in experience.
The facade's cast-concrete screen, assembled like Tetris blocks, mediates light, airflow, and privacy. This close-up shows how the geometric pattern frames a view of a nearby temple, connecting the home to its urban markers.
The cement block screen acts as an editor, curating views of the city. Here, it frames a distant temple dome, extending the sense of space beyond the home's physical boundaries and creating a stronger connection with the surroundings.
A view from the terrace, where the modular cement screen creates a play of light and shadow. The addition of bougainvillea adds a touch of color and nature, softening the concrete structure.
This architectural section drawing reveals how Hikari House functions spatially. Strategic cut-outs and courtyards are introduced within the narrow footprint to draw in light and support cross-ventilation, turning constraints into opportunities.
This video documents the journey of Hikari House from a concept to a lived-in space. It shows how the facade, built with simple 8x8 inch cement blocks, responds to its context by filtering light and creating a buffer from the street.
Hikari, meaning 'light' in Japanese, was the guiding principle for this home. On a small 20x60 ft plot, we used central light courts and a minimal material palette to create functional, breathing spaces for two families, all anchored by a simple pinewood staircase.
This image of the Hikari House balcony showcases our process of experimentation. The geometric screen, checkered flooring, and potted plants come together to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing urban space, proving that innovation can flourish even on a small scale.
About Project Spotlight: Hikari House, Meerut
On a tight 20x60 ft plot, we could not just build walls. We had to build a system. We designed a modular cement block screen that acts as an editor for light and privacy. It filters the intense street-level chaos into a soft, diffused glow inside, while framing specific city views, like the local temple dome, to make the internal spaces feel expansive rather than enclosed.
Architecture within Constraints
Designing in an urban infill context requires a shift in perspective. You cannot treat a 20x60 ft plot like an open villa. At Hikari House, the challenge was to create breathing room where none existed. We utilized strategic cut-outs and courtyards to force a dialogue between the internal volumes and the sky. This isn't just about making rooms look bigger; it is about passive cooling and ventilation, ensuring the house remains comfortable even during the intense heat of a Meerut summer.
The Facade as a Living System
We moved away from traditional glass-and-concrete boundaries. Instead, we developed a modular screen using 8x8 inch cement blocks, arranged in a custom Tetris-like grid. This facade does the heavy lifting: it provides the necessary privacy from the street, breaks the harshness of the direct sun, and permits constant airflow. It changes throughout the day, catching shadows in the morning and glowing from within at night.
Design for Daily Rituals
Architecture matters only when it supports the life lived inside it. By anchoring the central circulation around a pinewood staircase and using light as a primary material, we created a home that feels warm and connected. Whether it is the way light hits the floor in the morning or the way the balcony garden softens the concrete edges, every detail is intentional. This project is a testament to the idea that thoughtful design, rooted in local material and simple geometry, can transform the most constrained urban setting into a sanctuary.
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