GURMEET SANGHA RAI

It has been 17 years since Gurmeet Sangha Rai started renovating and adding, in slow instalments, to the structure of her 125-year-old ancestral home in Nawanpind Sardaran, a village tucked deep in the heart of Gurdaspur, Punjab.

- Rajashree Balaram

The house, with its imperious entrance, built by her great-great-grandfather Sardar Narain Singh, was structured in the tradition of a haveli with a massive gate that subtly symbolized her family's exalted status. Rai's additions include an annexe at the back, which has several bedrooms, a kitchen, a craft room, dining area, a winter room, and her personal space on the first floor.

Many design elements in the house owe their origins to the vernacular design vocabulary of rural Punjab, and each has been mindfully incorporated with pride and intent.

Peepal Haveli is now fully ready-not just as a private residence but as a place where Rai plans to foster community initiatives and soulful farming practices. It's a house that now stands as a quiet testament to a woman's enduring love for her land and her people.

In a sunlit career that has seen her taking on some of the most arduous conservation projects in India, the 17-year renovation of her ancestral house, Peepal Haveli, has been no less challenging.

“The way I express myself in architecture reflects my rootedness to the land with all the sights, sounds, and textures of the vernacular. But I also want the sociology and the psychology of a place to inform the architecture.

I like to innovate, so I am keen to use solar panels on the terrace, and implement efficient new water and waste management practices.”

Rai admits to being particularly fond of the Indo-Saracenic works of Bhai Ram Singh, the architect behind many of the landmarks in Lahore.