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SHEIKH SARAI HOUSING COMPLEX RAJ REWAL NEW DELHI, 1970

By: Harshita Singh B.Arch. 7th A Amity School of Architecture & Planning A8304012026

Sheikh Sarai Complex is the first experiment performed by Raj Rewal on the issue of social housing applied to a site of such a large scale. It fits in a context marked by the absence of symbolic elements characterizing the site, since the peripheral to the centre of New Delhi. Rewal works in the expansion south of the city, building a complex that consists of 550 apartments and will find its fulfilment only in 1982. Sponsored by the DDA (Delhi Development Authority) the Sheikh Sarai is structured according to current regulations that aim to selfhousing residential as well as to compliance with technical standards set.

DESIGN INPIRATION : From the design point of view, the organization of the building blocks of the composition, find connections with the historical realities of the cities of Rajasthan, Jaisalmer and Udaipur, that characterized the urban fabric of India and which are distinguished by the density of the town and for the close relationship between open and closed spaces.

VARIOUS ASPECTS OF DESIGN: URBAN FABRIC : Cool shadows and air currents are built into the grain of the city of Jaisalmer and are excellent demonstration of the achievement of low rise, high density development. • The sense of enclosure and continuity of movement is maintained throughout the cities. • In Sheikh sarai housing project , the peripheral roads are connected to parking squares. • The central spine of the layout is reserved for narrow ,shaded, pedestrian pathways . • The layout plans follow traditional methods of creating shade and cross ventilation. STREETS : The narrow shaded streets of Jaisalmer generate movement patterns full of fun, pleasure and surprise. • The plans Sheikh sarai is based on similar narrow shaded streets linking a variety of clusters. • The streets are broken up into small units, so there are pauses , points of rest and changing vistas.

CLUSTERS : Raj Rewal designed his housing schemes at Sheikh Sarai as a series of district clusters which are inter related. • The buildings are unified by means of similar façade treatment, using sandstone grit render, the piercing of parapets, proportions of doors, deep set windows, and stone flanking walls for the courtyard. ROOF TERRACES : Private roof terraces and courtyards are an integral design component of the housing for the Sheikh Sarai complex.

Inner courtyard

Streets in Sheikh Sarai Complex

DESIGN DETAILS : • An important aspect of this solution is the pattern of interrelated squares of an intimate scale that has been created. • While there is a clear demarcation between pedestrian and vehicular spaces within these, the movement of people within the enclosures has been closely aligned with the access points for vehicles on the periphery. • The scale of the various squares has been adjusted to encourage and to serve different community activities. • All the units have been provided with a courtyard or roof top terrace, the wall or parapets of which have narrow slits (jalis) ensuring both privacy and good ventilation. • Although the structure is of reinforced concrete posts and beams, the walls are of brick infill covered with roughcast plaster. • This is customary for economical mass housing in the region, and allows for some modification by the s. URBAN SCAPE -At site level, The architect developed the project by employing urban strategies of articulated flows, segregated spaces and applied the same on the site level, Resulting in a structured urban settlement .

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TARGET AUDIENCE -Affordable Housing built for medium and low income Groups (M.I.G=annual income ~ 4000$-16000 $) COMMUNITY SPACES – Fostering shared spaces for the community by creating intimate courtyards connected to each other, representing the traditional elements of Indian Architecture. The scale of these courtyards has been Manipulated towards increased social activities and interaction amongst the resident community, serving as social facilitators. AFFORDABILITY -A new financial scheme was developed for this particular case which helped subsidize the housing units for the s . In the Self-Financing-scheme, the alottees had to pay in 5 instalments over the period of the construction phase. This allowed the housing authority to create mix of units and make the project more economically viable. -The use of locally available material was intrinsic to the nature of project and to further bring down the cost of the project. The structure comprised of concrete posts and beams with infill brick walls covered with rough cast plaster. This gave the the flexibility to modify as well.

LOCATION: peripheral (south of town), Latitude 28 ° 32'15 '', Longitude 77 ° 13'20 '' ZONE CLIMATE : semi-arid climate with high variation between summer and winter, characterized by the seasons of the monsoon in the summer months and with an average annual temperature of 25 ° SUBJECT: complex of 550 residential apartments, on a plot surrounded by driveways connecting and bordering the residential district Chirag Delhi and facilities of public Nighborurhard Park and Sheikh Sarai Commercial Centre. ORIENTATION: prevailing direction accesses northeast Southwest orientation buildings Northwest Southeast (perpendicular to the prevailing direction) DENSITY : 100 dwellings / hectares distributed based on the following data: • • • •

Area of intervention has 38195 m² ~ 3.82 ha Built-up area 12740 m² ~ 1.2 ha Surface parking lots 6622 m² has ~ 0.66 ha Green areas 3931 m² ~ 0.39 ha

COMPOSITION ACCOMMODATIONS : There are 6 different types of unit, regrouped mirroring blocks along 2assi prevalent, ranging in area 70-120sqm, were organized into two distinct clusters, three and four storeys in height.  • The main type (B2) comprises 4 floors and consists of the following environments: • - Living area, overlooking 2 fronts • - Service areas and kitchen • - Sleeping area • - Terraces. • Each floor has one apartment, except for the top two floors of the relevance of a just accommodation. • The accesses to spaces occur within the spaces cortilizi through a lifts. TECHNOLOGY: load-bearing structure of beams and columns of reinforced concrete with brick collision. MATERIALS USED: - surface coating in plaster with powdered slate, finishing in the rough, white colour.