Introduction: In an age where architecture increasingly leans toward the spectacular, Studio Array’s Artist Residency – Farm 8 is a masterclass in restraint, ecological empathy, and adaptive reuse. Designed by Architect Rachit Srivastava, the residency exemplifies how quiet, contemplative design can harmonise with nature rather than dominate it and still leave a lasting impression.
In the bustling sprawl of New Delhi, where the city’s dense urban weave rarely yields to nature, a quiet oasis emerges at the edge of Arjanghar. Tucked away within a 5-acre site, the Artist Residency – Farm 8, designed by Studio Array, is a testimony to the power of adaptive reuse, sustainable thinking, and the harmonious interplay of steel and natural materials. Originally conceived as a studio space, the project has now evolved into a soulful sanctuary for artists and creatives, blending nature, architecture, and permaculture into a lived reality.
Rooted in Intent, Grown with Purpose
The story of Farm 8 began almost a decade ago when foundations and columns were first laid for what was intended as a personal artist studio. However, construction halted, and the site lay dormant until 2020, when the Kalekas, now part of an artist collective also called Farm8, returned with a broader vision: to build an artist residency in tandem with their sustainable farming and permaculture experiments.
Studio Array embraced this legacy by choosing not to demolish and rebuild, but rather to integrate the existing structure. In a design move that exemplifies mindful architecture, the architects ‘capped’ and wrapped around the existing columns using a lightweight steel structure, introducing glass, wooden drywall, and woven bamboo into the palette. This structural juxtaposition breathes life into the old frame, resulting in an evocative dialogue between permanence and impermanence.
“We didn’t erase the past, but we built upon it, wrapping it in steel and soul.”
Rachit Srivastava, Principal, Studio Array
Steel as Skeleton, Nature as Skin
One of the most compelling aspects of Farm 8 lies in its expression of structural honesty. Steel, in its raw but refined form, becomes the primary framework for the new construction. Lightweight yet robust, it allows for long spans, open volumes, and minimal foundation interventions, preserving the site’s ecological balance. The use of prefabricated and modular steel elements enabled rapid, low-impact construction, a key sustainability goal for both client and architect.
The sloping insulated roofs constructed with steel sections are designed with modularity and environmental response in mind. Oriented to optimise shade and natural ventilation, they slope in distinctive directions based on spatial needs and wind patterns. Their sculptural presence helps to ‘dematerialise’ the building’s mass, allowing it to blend into the landscape rather than dominate it.
SUSTAINABLE STRUCTURE AT A GLANCE
- Steel Usage: Lightweight, prefabricated modules
- Construction Impact: Low footprint due to reuse of foundations
- Roof System: Insulated, sloped steel panels with rainwater harvesting potential
- Ventilation: Passive cross-ventilation enabled by open plans
Framing Nature – Literally and Philosophically
Farm 8 is not just about constructing buildings, it is about curating experiences. Studio Array likens the architecture to “sitting under a tree” offering protection without enclosure. This idea manifests in double-height, semi-open verandahs that extend from private spaces, blurring thresholds between indoor comfort and outdoor freedom.
Large openings frame the farm’s lush greenery, while handwoven bamboo screens filter light and add privacy. These screens are not static design elements; they are designed to age, weather, and transform, mirroring the organic evolution of the land itself. Brick paving laid without mortar allows grass and wildflowers to grow into the architecture, ensuring the building is never quite finished, always becoming.
“Architecture here is not about arrival; it’s about transition.”
Materiality That Ages with Grace
Beyond steel, the material palette champions tactility and timelessness. Lime-waxed drywalls, hand-cast and polished cement floors, and reclaimed wood elements imbue warmth into the living quarters. The materials were chosen not just for their aesthetic qualities, but for their ability to endure and evolve.
The project celebrates aging not as decay, but as design. It recognises that sustainable architecture must embrace the lifecycle of materials. As the bamboo darkens, the bricks wear, and steel gathers a patina, Farm 8 becomes increasingly of its place, not just in it.
Designing for the Artistic Spirit
Designed to host artists from around the world, the residency is divided into modular blocks that accommodate private quarters, communal spaces, and work areas. Each block varies in scale and volume, responding to the individual and collective needs of its inhabitants.
This spatial modulation also fosters diverse experiences whether in contemplation, collaboration, or creation. The modular system, enabled by the steel framework, allows future expansions with minimal disruption, aligning with the fluid nature of artistic practice and ecological design.
Material Matters: The Case for Reuse
Perhaps the most compelling sustainability strategy lies not in new technology but in old materials. “From the start, we decided this project should be a palette of repurposed materials,” Rachit notes. “It’s about using what’s already there in the environment, in the city, and in the construction ecosystem.”
The brick used in the project was salvaged from a dismantled warehouse. The steel sections were acquired from a scrapyard and retrofitted for new spans. Even the wood used in doors and windows was reclaimed from an old haveli. These materials weren’t just chosen for their embodied energy savings but also for the aesthetic patina they brought. The exposed brick, untreated wood, and oxidised steel have a raw, tactile quality that reinforces the ethos of ‘living with time.’ The buildings don’t appear new and that’s the point. They feel settled, already aged, already part of the landscape.
By eschewing new finishes, the design allows materials to weather gracefully. There’s no paint to peel, no gloss to fade. This material honesty is not just low-maintenance, it’s poetic.
Steel as an Enabler of Lightness
One of the central structural materials in the project is steel, not in its usual expression of grandeur or industrial sleekness, but in its ability to be precise, light, and adaptable. Steel columns and frames were chosen for their slim profiles and ability to navigate through tight clearances between trees. “In a site like this, where tree roots and trunks limit heavy foundation work, steel allowed us to minimise the footprint and maximise spans without load-bearing walls,” Rachit explains.
The steel members were prefabricated offsite to reduce site disturbance and were assembled with minimal welding. Lightweight steel trusses support the sloped roofs, which are layered with bamboo matting and clay tiles for insulation. This hybrid roof system is not only thermally efficient, but also acoustically calming, perfect for an artist’s sanctuary. Steel’s reversibility was another benefit. “If someday, a unit needs to be relocated or dismantled, the steel frame can be unbolted and reused again,” says Rachit. “It’s a long-view material strategy.”
Cultural Context: Learning from the Vernacular
Farm 8 doesn’t attempt to mimic traditional Indian architecture, but it does learn from it. The deep verandahs, sloped tile roofs, courtyards, and passive cooling strategies are borrowed not from architectural textbooks, but from centuries of local wisdom. Even the layout nods to the Indian ashram typology, an informal clustering of buildings around a common activity zone. This is not just a design move but a cultural gesture, creating a community of co-living and co-creating. “It’s easy to be sustainable by buying green-certified materials or tech,” Rachit reflects. “But for us, sustainability is as much about behaviour, community, and slowing down. That’s something the vernacular teaches you.”
Challenges and Learnings
Building Farm 8 was not without challenges. Working with repurposed materials required constant on-site adjustments. “No two steel sections were identical, and many of the bricks had surface chipping,” Rachit recounts. “But that imperfection became part of the aesthetic.”
Coordinating services like plumbing and electrical in a layout dictated by trees required ingenuity. Laying underground utilities meant working around root zones and sometimes hand-digging trenches. But for Studio Array, these constraints were not setbacks, they were provocations for deeper creativity.
The Quiet Future of Green Design
At a time when sustainability risks becoming a buzzword, Farm 8 reclaims it as a practice – an ethos that is lived rather than stated. Through the reuse of existing structures, careful selection of materials, and the poetic use of steel to support, elevate, and connect, Studio Array offers a gentle manifesto for building with empathy.
As cities continue to swell and nature gets pushed to the margins, projects like Farm 8 show us a path forward, not by overpowering the landscape, but by learning to listen, respond, and coexist.
“Farm 8 isn’t built on land, it’s built with it.”
Conclusion: A Blueprint for Humble Architecture
In an era of global climate anxiety and resource depletion, the Artist Residency at Farm 8 offers more than just a design solution. It offers a design attitude – one of humility, responsiveness, and care.
It is a project that proves architecture does not always need to shout to make a statement. Sometimes, the quietest buildings are the most profound. By embracing reuse, honouring the landscape, and designing with long-term adaptability, Studio Array has crafted a place that does not just house artists, but it inspires them.
As the sun sets behind the neem trees and light filters through clay-tiled eaves, Farm 8 feels less like a construction and more like a continuation of nature. It is not architecture versus environment, but architecture as environment.
And that, perhaps, is the greenest gesture of all.
Fact File
Project: Artist Residency, Farm 8
Location: Arjanghar, New Delhi
Architect: Studio Array
Structure: Jai Shree Construction
Steel Fabrication: SK Metal Industries
Status: Completed
