Reinterpreting Stepwells: Sustainable Design Insights from History

Write up by Vaishali Mangalvedhekar

As cultural architects and advocates of context-responsive design, we often find inspiration in India’s traditional wisdom. Whether designing as a boutique hotel architect, a museum designer, or for an office building architecture project, the challenge remains the same: how do we marry time-tested architectural intelligence with rigid urban regulations? As architects navigating both sustainability and contemporary design, we often encounter this ongoing tension between tradition and regulation. One such example is during our visit to the remarkable Rani-Ni-Vaav in Patan, undertaken as part of a case study for a recent project focused on sustainable design. SUBTERRANEAN STRUCTURES NOT ALLOWED! It was mid-March of 2014, already scorching hot, as we neared the ‘Rani-Ni-Vaav’ in Patan, Gujarat. Invisible until you actually arrive at the very entrance, hidden behind a small earth mount that belies its scale, the ‘Vaav’ (well in Gujarati) is a mammoth subterranean structure descending to a whopping seven stories below the surface of the earth - an 11th-century engineering marvel.

STEPWELLS AS URBAN-SCALE ARCHITECTURE

Stepwells, as you know, were structures unique to the Indian subcontinent, built to provide communities year-round access to water deep within the earth. But other than this, they played secondary roles, forming well-scaled public spaces that sometimes doubled up as temples, gathering spaces, shaded summer retreats, or pit stops for travellers.

The ‘Rani-Ni-Vaav’ starts off as a ground-level building, but as it descends downwards and floors get added, its scale begins to resemble that of contemporary urban multi-storied buildings with courtyards, terraces of varying scales, balconies, platforms, and pavilions. One can only imagine the thriving civic-religious-recreation centre this must have been, with spaces for group interactions, performances, and reflection.

PASSIVE DESIGN

As we took in the remarkable architecture, we also simultaneously experienced a complete drop in temperature- the well-shaded spaces of the structure providing immediate respite from the sun. Cocooned within the earth, the periphery receives no direct solar radiation. Additionally, the earth stores lower night-time temperatures and keeps the built-form cool through the day. The presence of water raises humidity and promotes evaporative cooling, creating a comfortable microclimate in hot and arid regions.

CHALLENGES OF APPLYING TRADITIONAL WISDOM TODAY We recently discovered a vast number of such stunning stepwells in and around Nagpur, where we are designing an office building for an outstandingly sustainable company. It seemed fantastic that we could respond to three needs- collecting water, keeping cool, and creating well-scaled social spaces - by imbibing the wisdom of the stepwells.

BUT NO! The Nagpur bylaws (as is the case in most cities) disallow any function in the basement other than that of parking or services. It doesn’t matter if adequate natural light and ventilation is provided… No other function below the ground, period. I understand that safety is paramount. But it is frustrating that bylaws will not let us implement traditional and vernacular learnings! Is there any way we can work around this?

At SJK Architects, we remain deeply inspired by India’s traditional wisdom—structures like stepwells that offer environmental, social, and architectural value. While building codes today often hinder the implementation of such ideas, we believe it’s essential to keep questioning, researching, and innovating within the frameworks available to us. Whether designing an office, a school, or a hotel, our approach is rooted in sensitivity to climate, culture, and context. As architects, it is our responsibility to ensure that the lessons of the past continue to inform the spaces of the future.