OWNER:

Embassy of France, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

LOCATION:

2 Aurangzeb Road, New Delhi-110001, India

ARCHITECTS:

Stephane Paumier & ABRD Architects Pvt. Ltd.

CONSULTANTS:

Structure - Mahendra Raj Consultants
Services - Sterling India Consultants

PROGRAMME:

French Diplomatic School
Centre for Human Science
French Information Centre

AREA: 3000 sq. m.

MATERIALS: Steel structure and brick infill, Ambaji marble and red sandstone cladding. Teak wood windows and black kuddapa floorings.

SITE:
The plot is located on Aurangzeb road, in the heart of Lutyen's Delhi. A typical bungalow from 1930 originally occupied it with lawns around. In the 1960's, architect Raj Rewal built staff quarters and later the French School and Auditorium.

The entire precinct was redeveloped from 1998 to 2000 to accommodate a multimedia information center, cafeteria, multipurpose hall, guard house as well as landscaped areas

Currently the site is being redeveloped particularly to accommodate the growing needs of the school, for which modifications in the original functioning of the buildings are being made.


Concept:
The project of opening the cultural section of the French Embassy to the Indian public while keeping the administrative functions going found a natural way by creating a paved court and paths that hold together the public activities of the place. The information center , by its location on one side of the court and transparent between a small wood  and a lawn on north side is acting as a web of activities on its surrounding.

The buildings on the site were constructed over a period of time and hence display various architectural styles. The ongoing project envisages to integrate parts of the site, which will now be used in conjunction, and to restore the buildings, as much as possible, to their intended state.

The recent extensions to the Bungalow have been removed to create an unobstructed court for the school. In addition, a louvered roof has been provided in the court to integrate the disparate buildings, which will now be used by the school. The circulation has been reworked to create connections between the different parts.