Courtyard acts as "spatial and emotional nucleus" of Indian house by Renesa
Sweeping concrete and brick walls wrap a circular, water-filled courtyard at the heart of The Sanctum, a low-slung home in Punjab, India, designed by local architecture studio Renesa.
Spread across a three-acre site in Amritsar, the 1,115-square-metre dwelling comprises a cluster of geometric volumes formed with red brick and concrete.
The Sanctum's circular courtyard and surrounding arc-shaped walls define a flowing route through the home and its surrounding gardens, creating what Renesa describes as an alternative to rural India's "predictable, box-like houses".
"The design intentionally moves away from the performative grandeur typical of Indian luxury homes to instead explore an architecture of restraint, where serenity, proportion, and tactile honesty define luxury," principal architect Sanchit Arora told Dezeen.
"At its heart lies the idea of the 'void as generator'," added Arora. "The circular courtyard becomes both the spatial and emotional nucleus of the home, shaping movement, light, and experience."
"The house is not a statement of excess, but a sanctuary of emotion and reflection."
Arora described the home's layout as being based on a "gradient of intimacy", with a central layer of private family spaces around the courtyard wrapped by more communal areas such as the bar and dining room.
In the courtyard itself, concentric circles of planting, stepped benches in polished concrete and a shallow pool of water are traversed by a ramped walkway. This leads to a central sunken seating area planted with a single tree.
To the west, The Sanctum overlooks a swimming pool, small cricket pitch and gardens, which are surrounded by stepped verandas and curving walls designed to maintain privacy, but retain a feeling of openness.
"The main challenge was to articulate openness without exposure; hence, the plan adopts inward-looking geometries and low-slung volumes that shield while connecting," Arora said.
"Interspersed water bodies, shaded verandas, and open-to-sky courts modulate the microclimate and light quality throughout the day," added Arora.
"The home thus becomes an introspective retreat, embedded in its land rather than perched upon it."
The Sanctum's bedrooms have been separated from its living spaces and placed in a smaller two-storey block to the west, where they overlook the swimming pool from behind a curving section of wall.
Contrasting the roughness of the exterior's brick and concrete, the living spaces sit beneath smooth, white ceilings, with glossy stone floors and dark oak carpentry and furniture.
Based in New Delhi, Renesa was founded in 2006 by Arora's father, Sanjay Arora. Previous projects by the studio include an apartment in Pune, which balances contemporary details with traditional Indian crafts and materials.
Other Indian houses recently featured on Dezeen include a habitable bridge by Wallmakers and a cave-like structure by Earthscape Studio.
The photography is by Avesh Gaur.
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