The Jaunsar, Chaani Churani, near Chakrata, Uttarakhand

Selected Works / 07

The Jaunsar

Four Blocks on a Deodar Ridge

Chaani Churani, near Chakrata, Uttarakhand2024 onwardsUnder construction

A resort on a ridge in Jaunsar, built in the stone of its own hillside and set out around the deodars that were already standing.

The ground falls away on both sides of this ridge and the weather turns in minutes. Rather than cut one platform and put a single building on it, the accommodation is broken into four blocks, each set on its own bench along the fall of the land, so that no block looks into another and each keeps the long view south.

The young deodars settled the rest. Walls stop short of them, the clearings between them became the courts, and the openings were placed to take what the trees leave. What the drawings had to fix before any of that could be built was the wall itself: local stone laid to carry rather than to face, with the frame and the lacing that make it safe on a slope at this height.

The valley has been building this way for a long time. Its houses stack stone and deodar, hang a carved balcony off the upper floor and cover the whole thing in slate. That construction was recorded element by element before the design began. The project argues with it at a larger size; it does not quote it.

01

The ridge as it was

A meadow with deodars standing in it, a few stone rooms under sheet roofs, and the whole range to the south.

The meadow before the work, and the range beyond
The meadow before the work, and the range beyond
The young deodars the plan is set out around
The young deodars the plan is set out around
Cloud below the site at first light
Cloud below the site at first light
02

What the valley already builds

Recorded around Chakrata before the design began, element by element: how the slate sits on its brushwood bed, how the gallery is notched into the wall, where the carving is spent. The details argue with this, they do not copy it.

The street: timber fronts over a masonry base, slate above
The street: timber fronts over a masonry base, slate above
Slate roofs over a house whose posts carry the upper floor clear of the wall
Slate roofs over a house whose posts carry the upper floor clear of the wall
Under the eave: slate laid on a bed of brushwood over the joists
Under the eave: slate laid on a bed of brushwood over the joists
Turned capitals and carved brackets, where the carving is concentrated
Turned capitals and carved brackets, where the carving is concentrated
The gallery from below, notched and pegged into the wall plate
The gallery from below, notched and pegged into the wall plate
A granary in mud and timber, the arcade cut straight out of the frame
A granary in mud and timber, the arcade cut straight out of the frame
03

The four blocks

The blocks as they will stand, with the roofs in the slate they will actually be finished in. The stone is the local stone; the timber is deodar.

The four blocks from the air: reception at the head of the track, the chalets and the villa stepping down the ridge
The four blocks from the air: reception at the head of the track, the chalets and the villa stepping down the ridge
A chalet at dusk: the stone tower, the timber eaves, the balcony hung off the long face
A chalet at dusk: the stone tower, the timber eaves, the balcony hung off the long face
04

Building it

The walls are laid by masons from the valley, in the stone that comes off this hillside, course by course and by hand. Nothing here is a cladding. What the drawings settled, the wall now has to hold.

Between two blocks: the coursing carried the full height of the wall, in the stone that came off this hillside
Between two blocks: the coursing carried the full height of the wall, in the stone that came off this hillside
The start: the plan strung and chalked on the cleared ground
The start: the plan strung and chalked on the cleared ground
Footings cut into the hill, the columns waiting, the last light on the range
Footings cut into the hill, the columns waiting, the last light on the range
The plinth walls out of the ground, threaded between the trees that stay
The plinth walls out of the ground, threaded between the trees that stay
The stone, the mortar and the argument about the next course
The stone, the mortar and the argument about the next course
The long wall going up, worked from the top
The long wall going up, worked from the top
Where the wall is actually decided: two masons cutting a stone to its course
Where the wall is actually decided: two masons cutting a stone to its course
The wall stops at the tree: the deodar keeps its ground and the room is set out around it
The wall stops at the tree: the deodar keeps its ground and the room is set out around it
A scaffold built around a pine rather than through it
A scaffold built around a pine rather than through it
Two blocks in clear weather, the coursing reading right across the corner
Two blocks in clear weather, the coursing reading right across the corner
The same walls when the cloud comes over, which on this ridge takes minutes
The same walls when the cloud comes over, which on this ridge takes minutes
The site at dusk: four blocks above ground, the snow line lit behind them
The site at dusk: four blocks above ground, the snow line lit behind them
Drawings10 sheets

The two site plans, then a plan for each of the four blocks, one section through the reception block, and the three details that decide how the timber meets the stone. Titleblocks removed; each sheet carries its own graphic scale.

Site plan at ground level: the four blocks set along the fall of the ridge, the retained deodars drawn
Site plan at ground level: the four blocks set along the fall of the ridge, the retained deodars drawn01
Site plan at roof level: how much of the ridge the roofs actually take
Site plan at roof level: how much of the ridge the roofs actually take02
Reception block, ground floor plan
Reception block, ground floor plan03
Reception block, section through the slope
Reception block, section through the slope04
Reception porch, drawn as it will be put together
Reception porch, drawn as it will be put together05
Chalet 1, ground floor plan. The plan turns to hold the view and clear the trees
Chalet 1, ground floor plan. The plan turns to hold the view and clear the trees06
Chalet 1, the bay window: section, and the timber build-up behind it
Chalet 1, the bay window: section, and the timber build-up behind it07
Chalet 2, ground floor plan
Chalet 2, ground floor plan08
Villa block, ground floor plan
Villa block, ground floor plan09
Villa porch: framing section, and the same porch from inside
Villa porch: framing section, and the same porch from inside10

“The trees we drew around are finishing the openings for us.”

Shrutiniwas Sharma
CreditsUnder construction
Location
Chaani Churani, near Chakrata, Uttarakhand
Date
2024 onwards. Under construction
Typology
Resort. Four blocks: a reception block, two chalets, a villa
Structure
Load-bearing local stone masonry with a reinforced concrete frame
Roof
Slate on deodar rafters
Drawings
Execution set at A1. Drawn by Sudhanshu Shekhar
Architect
STUDIO Shrutiniwas
Principal architect
Shrutiniwas Sharma
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