This family home in Delhi finds its rhythm between South India and Japan

No matter where we move, there is often something instinctive about seeking the familiarity of home in the spaces we inhabit. For this family of five — a couple, their twins and grandmother — that meant bringing a sense of southern India into their New Delhi residence, after more than two decades in the capital.

Warmth and vernacular influences became quiet threads running through the interiors. As avid art collectors, the homeowners also wanted the home to serve as a repository for their growing collection, with spaces that reveal themselves gradually, in gentle cadence with the architecture.

For the transformation, they turned to Studio Juggernaut, led by principal architects and founding partners Harsh Vardhan Jain, Saurabh Jain and Teppei Iizuka, who worked alongside team members Mahek Todi and Mohammed Saif. “The building sits on an 800-square-yard plot, open on all four sides and surrounded by trees.

Yet, curiously, it remained deprived of daylight across most of its rooms,” says Harsh. “Our first instinct, therefore, was to open it up, to invite light in.” Glazing was maximised, bay windows introduced and walls replaced, where possible, with layered glass partitions.

Japanese rice paper sandwiched within the glazing softens the light while preserving a sense of visual continuity.