The project involved designing two independent houses on a narrow city plot in Chennai, with the street bordering the eastern side and occupied plots enclosing the remaining sides. The two houses are stacked vertically, one above the other, and conceived as inward-looking, ground-oriented homes to ensure privacy while keeping views and open spaces within the site.

The houses are organized around a series of courtyards and miniature gardens, creating small patches of greenery throughout the compact plot. These courtyards become extensions of the living spaces, bringing natural light and ventilation into the deeper parts of the homes while providing shaded, planted spaces suited to Chennai’s hot and humid climate.

The building steps back as it rises, reducing its apparent scale from the street and making the three-storey structure feel less imposing. Within, the spaces are kept intimate in scale, recalling the more immediate and human scale of a traditional dwelling. The terraces, courtyards, and sloping roofs further articulate the building into smaller volumes, allowing the two homes to retain a sense of individuality and connection to the ground.