The Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) at Kashmere Gate, the first facility of its kind in the country, was sponsored by the Delhi Development Authority and designed by the New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC), India. The project was commissioned to the then Chief Architect Rajinder Kumar, with some records indicating a collaboration with architect V.P. Dhamija. S.G. Deolalikar served as the sanitary consultant, while Mahendra Raj was the structural engineer whose structural design supported the terminal’s construction.
The four-and-a-half-hectare terminal site is located adjacent to the old city walls of the historic city of Shahjahanabad. It had earlier served as a sports ground for Hindu College, while the adjoining land was allotted to St. Stephen’s College. The site has undulating terrain and a sudden four-metre drop in ground level, which was strategically used in the design to segregate bus traffic from pedestrian movement.
Careful planning for the proposed Inter-State Bus Terminal emphasised the circulation of incoming and outgoing buses, pedestrian movement, parking facilities, waiting halls with refreshment rooms, and shopping areas. These requirements are reflected in the overall planning and design of the complex, which is organised into three blocks: an arrival block (G+2), a departure block (G+4), and a block linking the two. The lower levels of the building accommodate the major passenger and vehicular activities, while the upper levels house administrative offices and retiring areas.
(right) Interior view of the terminal after recent renovations.
Credits: Meaningful Design Labs
Particular attention was given to light and ventilation in the large public areas, where the distinctive roof forms paired with skylights bring natural light into the centre of these spaces. This monumental structure reflects a Chandigarh-inspired modernist vocabulary in its scale, massing, and raw-material expression—an influence shaped by Rajinder Kumar’s years working there during the making of the city. The building takes the form of rectangular masses connected together and supported on pilotis at the lower level, with large columns that allow portions of the structure to project outward. The façades are articulated with slanted brise-soleil, strategically designed to reduce direct solar exposure.
The exterior is finished in shuttered, patterned concrete, echoing the rugged texture of the adjacent historic city walls. The structural ingenuity of Mahendra Raj is evident in the exposed large-span coffered slab ceilings, large circular columns, and wide structural bays that enable expansive interior spaces, allowing uninterrupted movement of large vehicles within the terminal.
(middle) Coffered concrete ceilings spanning the interior spaces.
(right) Slanted window openings viewed from the interior.
Credits: Meaningful Design Labs
Rajinder Kumar’s design and planning, together with Mahendra Raj’s engineering, supported the building’s large-span spaces and modular structural system, enabling the expansive bus bays and passenger concourses required for the functioning of the terminal. With the passage of time, upgrades became necessary, and the renovation of Kashmere Gate ISBT (2013) began in July 2011 under the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS). Now known as the Maharana Pratap ISBT, the terminal was reconfigured to provide additional facilities for passengers while retaining the original architectural design of the building.
During the renovation, several elements were introduced to upgrade the public infrastructure, including escalators, air-conditioned waiting lounges, and steel cladding around the original concrete columns. In recent years, the exterior concrete has been painted over; however, since no plaster has been applied, the concrete expression remains clearly visible. The fins were coloured in one of their earlier avatars, recalling, perhaps unintentionally, the treatment of the fins in Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation.
Gallery:
Source:
- Civic Affairs. Vol. 17. New Delhi: Citizen Press, 1969, p. 27
- Scriver, Peter, & Srivastava, Amit. India: Modern Architectures in History. London: Reaktion Books, 2016.
- Sharma, Ram. Architecture in India. Milan: Electa Moniteur / Association Française d’Action Artistique
Credits:
- Research Associate: Prashansa Sachdeva
- Interview: S. G. Deolalikar, Prof Ram Sharma & Prof Ujan Ghosh
Keywords:
brise-soleil, pilotis, large-span coffered slabs, circular columns, exposed shuttered concrete
