Raj Rewal designed the Sheikh Sarai housing complex in New Delhi in 1970 as his first large-scale social housing project. The 550-unit complex was structured according to regulations to provide affordable self-housing and technical standards. Rewal drew inspiration from the dense, interconnected urban fabrics and narrow shaded streets of historical cities in Rajasthan like Jaisalmer and Udaipur. The complex features clusters of buildings organized around intimate courtyards and roof terraces, with segregated pedestrian and vehicular access. Materials and construction methods were chosen to be locally sourced and affordable.

1. SHEIKH SARAI
HOUSING COMPLEX
RAJ REWAL
NEW
DELHI, 1970
By:
Harshita Singh
B.Arch. 7th A
Amity School of
Architecture & Planning
A8304012026

3. 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
self-housing residential as well as to
compliance with technical standards set.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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 users.
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 .

8. • 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 users . 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
user the flexibility to modify as well.

9. 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

11. 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.
• - Wood frames with white colour
• - External paving blocks of local stone