Group Housing

Concrete blocks, gardens and balconies that start conversations.

Concrete housing blocks with pink balcony frames above a lawn and stepped amphitheatre where people gather.

Year: 2017
Place: Chandigarh, India
Project: Academic project, residential
Homes: 336 in four types
Built up: 51,376 m²

The project

A group housing project on the outskirts of Chandigarh, designed around human interaction and places to gather.

The key factors were habitability, living cultures and behavioural patterns, along with a study of how the built masses sit on the site. The materials and language follow the concrete, brutalist architecture of Chandigarh, infused with nature.

The site is divided into three parts: 4 BHK and 4 BHK duplex homes; 2 and 3 BHK homes; and housing for the economically weaker section with other services. The parts are permeable but not completely exposed, so each keeps its own privacy and character.

Group Housing

01 / The scheme

Blocks around open ground

Black-and-white axonometric of a cluster of tall blocks on a blue-grey ground within the surrounding city. — 02Axonometric of the group housing in its context.

Row of eight small diagrams showing a T-shaped site becoming a block of towers. — 03Site evolution: original site, zoning by type of people, block placement, massing and terracing.

Group Housing

02 / Context

Site, strategy and flexibility

Circular map of Chandigarh and a circular site plan marked with unit types. — 04Chandigarh regional map and site plan.

Axonometrics of zones, connections to the city and three alternative building types. — 05Site features, urban consolidation and urban flexibility: high-rise, townhouse and low-rise possibilities.

Group Housing

03 / System

A kit of parts

Units are assembled from a micro toolkit of columns, beams, slabs, walls, windows, doors and balconies, and a macro toolkit of benches, lounges, co-working rooms, art galleries, pergolas and planting.