Architect Designs Pink Stone Home in Jaipur That Stays 7°C Cooler & Is Built To Endure Earthquakes

A moodboard of pastels is how you could describe this Jaipur residence; its salmon pink sandstone facade perfectly complements the brilliant blue of the Jaipur morning sky. But as architect Kamal Malik points out, a pretty aesthetic isn’t the material’s only asset. 

It is also a sustainable rebuttal to modern building techniques and the toll they take on the planet’s carbon footprint. The ‘Stone House’, though a newcomer on the landscape — constructed in 2019 — seems almost as if it has always been a mainstay on the Jaipur horizon. 

This, says Malik, owes to the fact that stone construction is tied to the city’s architectural legacy. Rajasthan has long been a hub for quarries producing pink stone, which features in various monuments across the city, including the iconic Hawa Mahal, built in 1799. People associate pink stone with Rajasthan’s legacy, and this is probably what lends the residence a sense of familiarity. It’s like revisiting a bit of history. 

A quick browse through Malik’s architecture projects — he is the founder of the 49-year-old Mumbai-based Malik Architecture — underscores how the native environment is integral to each project. Born and raised in Shimla, nature was his best friend growing up. And today, it continues to be his inspiration across the projects he undertakes. 

In the case of the Stone House, this is evident. When you step in, you’ll feel as if you’re back in the womb of ecology. 

One option, to achieve this, he says, was to go the traditional route: build concrete walls and clad them in stone and plaster from the outside. “But our ancestors have been building with stone for years. If you look at the city, you’ll see palaces, forts, and homes all built using this native material. And so, when I suggested using stone to build, I wasn’t suggesting something novel or out of the blue. The source is from the region itself,” Malik says. 

However, when Malik pitched the idea to his client, a descendant of Rajasthan’s royal family of Dundlod, he was met with a few well-warranted questions. “Will it be too complex? How will we find artisans who’ve worked on stone buildings before? Will it be too costly?” 

While Malik managed to assuage the price concerns — “I told him we wouldn’t be spending much more than what a conventional structure would cost” — the concern about the artisans was real. And in solving for that is where the success of the project lies. 

Royalty and functionality blend in this Jaipur home 

“The house continues to surprise me,” Veer Vijay Singh, who lives here with his family, shares. “When you do something like this, it’s very different. These are the kind of homes that used to be built hundreds of years ago. In summer, it stays cool, especially the basement, which doesn’t feel like a basement at all, thanks to the garden Kamal has put there. In winter, as the sun’s direction changes, the windows are set accordingly to let sunlight into the home."

As you enter the home, the first thing that will strike you is its immediate sense of breadth. Credit goes to the arches, the expansive doorways and the spacing. No cement has been used for the project, Malik explains. “We used lime. It is locally available and has been used for centuries before cement was discovered.” 

But, as Malik learnt from the local craftsmen, there is a knack to using lime as a building material. “It needs to be mixed with sweet water. If it’s mixed with saline water, it will deteriorate the quality of the lime. For centuries, lime has been used with stone, considering their natural binding affinity for each other.” 

And the house repackages the energy of these traditional techniques. 

The construction is load-bearing, Malik explains. The impermeable, thick walls make this possible. But the question was how to maintain the thickness of the walls while minimising the amount of stone being used. “To make our walls comparable to the 18-inch walls that are found in other stone constructions, we had two slabs of six inches each separated by a six-inch cavity. We bonded this together with gun metal ties (metal shear pins and ties to hold the two sides of the cavity together, making the building earthquake-resistant) so that the entire thing would act like an 18-inch wall. This way, we were able to reduce stone, and we could run our pipe services through the hollow,” the architect explains.   

The hollow interlocking structural wall system not only reduced material consumption by 30 percent, but also provided insulation, Malik explains. “Approximately a five to seven degree Celsius variation can be observed between the exterior and interior,” he says. While the weather outside juggles harsh sun and unpredictable cold, the home stays cocooned. 

Paying a visit to the craftsmen of Jaipur 

In Rajasthan, as the dreamers gave way to developers, the architecture began to reflect this. Pink sandstone was replaced with cement. And so, the secret lay in finding the right craftspeople.

“These artisans were once valued and treasured. This has seen a shift. So, we decided to break the cycle. We decided to work with the artisans directly and pay them directly. It at least ensures some possibility that they will stay in the profession if they are given respect and livelihood. Or we could risk losing this generational aspect of knowledge that has been passed down,” Malik reasons. 

Having the artisans work with them closely lent the project perfection. “If you look at stone as a material, there are different kinds. Some are soft, some are harder, some are porous. You need to gauge the load-bearing strength of each type. Some stones measured 16 feet, and bringing them from the quarry and then shaping them required craftsmanship, and that’s where the artisans played a role. Everything is hand done.” 

It is these features that make the home special. 

The jalis (latticed windows) are inspired by the Hawa Mahal’s design, which, while allowing the people inside to observe the happenings outside the window, gave them privacy from the outside. But its role is also functional, Malik says. These prevent the harsh summer sun from finding its way in, while still allowing light to filter through. 

“They provide a wonderful play of light and shade as the sun moves through the day. The way light plays with a structure transforms it from a static entity to something that has movement.” Malik loves encouraging sunlight into the projects he builds. This is also why the house features a large courtyard, which immerses it in abundant natural light and makes for great cross ventilation. 

Not just Veer, but also nature loves the home. “It’s so open, and the stone attracts a lot of pigeons, parrots and squirrels.” Malik concedes, adding that this part is important. After all, he says, “A house is not just a building. It is a living being which will play host to an entire generation.” 

Edited by Khushi Arora; All pictures courtesy Kamal Malik