Studio sP+A, a Mumbai-based architecture and urban design firm, has won the Ministry of Defence’s global architectural competition to build a National War Museum at Princess Park in the Lutyens Zone near India Gate in New Delhi. The winners will also receive prize money of USD 75,000.

“To do a project of this nature, given the importance it has within the national context, is fantastic,” Sameep Padora, principal architect of sP+A (Sameep Padora & Associates), told Mumbai Mirror. “We are a young firm and we are looking forward to contributing to our nation.”

According to the government of India website, the “National War Museum will be an institution to collect, preserve, interpret and display military artefacts, portray significant events of our nation’s wars and conflicts and related objects of historical importance for education and promoting patriotism.

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While images of the winning entry have not been made public yet, Padora said his firm was very clear that their design should respect and blend in with the historic ethos of India Gate and its surroundings. They also wanted to make sure that they didn’t cut down the huge number of trees at the site and instead, incorporate them into the design. The result is a “porous” model that can double up as a public space because the entire ground floor has a series of open areas that visitors can walk through.

The other point of focus for Padora and his team was finding a way to project the Army, Navy and Air Force as a single, united entity.