A.Savin
Old Parliament House
- Design firm
- Sir Edwin Lutyens
- Typology
- Government
- Years
- 1913–1927
- Status
- Complete
Facade facts
- Facade summary
- A monumental 360-degree circular facade featuring an outer ring of 144 cream-colored sandstone columns on a red sandstone plinth, blending Western classical monumentality with Indian architectural details.
- Documented intention
- To merge classical British imperial authority (colonnade, symmetry) with local traditional motifs to appease Indian sentiments and respond effectively to the harsh subtropical climate.
- Street relationship
- The building sits at the end of Sansad Marg, acting as a massive civic anchor. Its monumental scale dominates the surrounding landscape, separated from the street by landscaped gardens and boundary gates.
- Climate relationship
- The continuous veranda created by the outer colonnade serves as an extremely effective solar shading device, protecting the main walls of the inner chambers from direct solar radiation during hot Delhi summers.
- Window pattern
- Regularly repeating,aligned with the radial structural grid.
- Glazing
- Single clear glazing with dark wood framing, heavily shielded by stone screens in key areas.
- Depth
- Deep recess of several meters behind the colonnade,creating a continuous exterior veranda.
- Rhythm
- Strictly repetitive, uniform rhythm around a perfect 360-degree circle.
- Red Sandstone
- Red Sandstone — Ground floor base and outer boundary details — Rough to medium dressed
- Dholpur Sandstone
- Dholpur Sandstone — First and second floor colonnade — Smooth dressed
- Stone Jali
- Stone Jali — Window openings and corridor partitions — Carved latticework
- Load-bearing Sandstone Masonry
- Load-bearing masonry construction using sandstone blocks over a brick and concrete core.
- Sandstone Colonnade System
- Monolithic or segmented sandstone drums stacked and pinned to form the 144 columns.
Tags
- 1921–1930
- Administrative Campus
- Assembled stone masonry
- British Colonial Period
- Chhajja overhangs
- Colonnaded veranda wall
- Cwa (Humid Subtropical with hot summers)
- Deeply recessed window bays
- Delhi
- Dholpur Sandstone
- Government
- India
- Indo-Saracenic
- Legislative assembly chambers
- Load-bearing plinth facade
- Monumental Capital Complex
- New Delhi
- Parliament
- Red Sandstone
- Regularly repeating
- Sir Edwin Lutyens
- Stone Jali
- Strictly repetitive
- Traditional stone carving
- aligned with the radial structural grid.
- and library
- creating a continuous exterior veranda.
- offices
Description
The facade is characterized by a continuous, circular colonnade of 144 pillars on the first floor. These columns, made of cream-colored Dholpur sandstone, stand on a high base of red sandstone. The columns support a massive entablature and an attic balcony wrapped in a detailed stone jali balustrade. The deep, open-air corridor behind the columns acts as a shading veranda for the office windows behind it, creating deep shadows that dramatically emphasize the colonnade's structure.
Visual analysis
The stark contrast between the bright, sunlit sandstone columns and the deep shadow of the continuous veranda creates a strong sense of depth and rhythmic continuity around the circular layout.
Gallery
Sources
- Imperial Delhi: The Art and Architecture of a Creation · Andreas Volwahsen
- The Architecture of Delhi · Central Public Works Department (CPWD), Government of India