A west-facing residence in Rohtak, Haryana, negotiates the pressures of climate, privacy and material permanence through a considered architecture of brick, void and filtered light.

Location: Rohtak, Haryana   Area: 5,200 sq. ft.   Type: Residential

Concept & Context

In the agrarian flatlands of Rohtak, Haryana, belonging is earned through material, proportion and the quiet refusal to impose. The Red Brick House, a 5,200-square-foot residence on a west-facing plot, is built on precisely that premise. In a landscape shaped by dust, heat and seasonal extremes, brick is the only honest answer: durable, almost entirely self-sufficient, and so native to this ground that it seems less chosen than inevitable.

Design Intent

Building in fired clay grounds the house in a regional tradition of thermal-mass construction, where the wall functions not as a barrier but as a climatic instrument, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it gradually through the night. There is no applied ornament. The architecture earns its presence through material honesty. The house is oriented along a west-east axis, with the primary facade addressing the street to the west and the rear elevation opening to the east. On the north and south flanks, building mass is selectively removed to introduce punctures that draw natural light deep into the plan. The western facade is shielded by the jaali screen, turning the most demanding elevation into the most architecturally resolved.

Facade & Architectural Expression

The western facade makes the architecture's most considered argument. The upper volume presents as a bold projecting brick mass whose entire surface is woven with a diagonal jaali screen, a grid of small square perforations that dissolves solidity into a breathing skin of light and shadow. Set within this porous field, a large circular void frames the projecting balcony, its concentric rings of brick radiating outward to produce a taut, confident aperture. The circle performs as both a shade structure and a framing device, but it also carries an urban intention. The circular opening embodies the ‘eyes on the street’ concept, establishing a deliberate visual connection between the private and the public realm below.

Planning & Spatial Experience

Spread across 5,200 square feet, the plan transitions from entry to interior with measured deliberateness. A living room opens into a double-height recessed sitting area, drawing the eye toward the central courtyard beyond. That courtyard is the spatial heart of the residence, functioning simultaneously as an environmental buffer, a social hinge, and a light well, connecting the living, dining, and kitchen on the ground floor while opening visually to the level above. The kitchen is designed with functional clarity, positioned to serve both the dining area and the courtyard edge without compromising the spatial openness of the shared zone. Ground-floor bedrooms remain woven into shared life through their proximity to the courtyard. Upstairs, three bedrooms, a children's room with a workstation and a multipurpose hall reaffirm the house's commitment to connected, layered living.

Materiality & Craft

The interiors carry the influence of brutalism, one that finds beauty in the honesty of structure rather than its concealment. Exposed concrete slabs preserve the imprint of formwork, quietly narrating the process of their making. Raw surfaces are left to speak without finish or apology. An internal brick pergola diffuses incoming light into shifting patterns across the floor, while Kota stone underfoot unifies the palette with matte calm. Geometric inlays define circulation and demarcate zones without resorting to walls. Structure and finish are the same here, a design philosophy in which the construction process itself becomes the aesthetic language.

Living Experience

Morning light filters softly through the courtyard. By afternoon, jaali screens and double-height voids temper the western heat into something liveable. Open-to-sky volumes enable a passive cycle of ventilation, reducing reliance on mechanical cooling. The house expresses its response to climate not through formal novelty but through material intelligence and spatial clarity. The Red Brick House is not a resistance to climate but a reconciliation with it. Rooted in regional material and shaped by the rhythms of daily life, it offers shade, light and calm with quiet clarity, forming an architecture of permanence rather than spectacle.

Credits

Principal Architect: Ar. Tawish Tayal

People and Business Manager: Divya Garg

Project Lead: Ar. Nitya Prakash, Ar. Sejal Awasty

Photographs: Purnesh Dev Nikhanj

Design Team: Ar. Nitya Prakash, Ar. Sejal Awasty, Ar. Paramhansh Yadav, Mohd. Mohsin, Vinita Gusain, Rahul Kushwah

Editorial & Content Strategy: Ar. Parthiv Verma

Visual Communication & Graphics: Ar. Parthiv Verma