Malik Architecture has designed the House of Voids in Delhi, India.

This project appears to be a hovering monolith differentiated by its mediation with internal and urban space but is realised ultimately as a series of internal spatial shifts that bind the house with nature and light. Delhi’s existing neighbourhoods have traditionally been defined by two-storey houses set back from the tree-lined road and buffered by a front garden.

The ground-level courtyard is shaded from the south/west and receives ample light from the north which extends down into the basement and upwards through the main central court – while acting as a climate device, adaptable in the summer and winter.

"As a concept, we have adapted the western face of the house to bring in controlled light through punctures, screens and northern skylights without opening up any views to the west, as there is another house only 20ft away," said Malik Architecture. "This arrangement allows us to bring the maximum amount of light where our site has the maximum openness."

This proposal re-evaluates the typology of the building form as prescribed by the current guidelines and adapts it to reestablish the sensation of the pre-existing urban condition by introducing a network of labyrinthine voids running through the house – catching the light and restoring thermal balance, expressed as a combination of green spaces, deep fissures and skylights.

This project has been longlisted in the urban house category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

Designer: Malik Architecture

Project: House of Voids