Interstate Bus Terminal, Dwarka: A No-Conflict Circulation System for New Delhi's Intercity Travel

Most bus terminals fail at the same moment: when an intercity coach, a taxi, an e-rickshaw and a passenger dragging luggage all try to occupy the same few metres of asphalt. The Interstate Bus Terminal at Dwarka begins from that failure and designs against it. Its central proposition is a no-conflict circulation system, a site where every mode of movement gets its own path and none of them cross.

Developed by Shubham Solanki, the project imagines a new intercity hub on a greenfield site at Sector 23, Dwarka, in New Delhi. The site covers 11 hectares and is planned for an estimated 20,000 users per day. Alongside intercity and local bus operations, the brief folds in commercial space, offices and hotel accommodation, positioning the terminal as a piece of the city rather than a holding pen at its edge.

Five Movement Streams, Zero Intersections

The circulation diagram is the project's engine. Solanki assigns distinct loops to intercity buses, local buses, private cars and taxis, auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws, and finally pedestrians, a category that covers passengers, staff and tourists. Each stream follows a dedicated route, so a coach pulling into its bay never has to negotiate with a cab dropping off a family.

What lifts this beyond traffic engineering is the use of vertical segregation. Rather than spreading every flow across a single ground plane, the scheme stacks user groups so that platforms, waiting areas, offices and amenities are reached without overlap. At 20,000 daily users, that decision is the difference between a terminal that feels crowded and one that feels organised.

Elongated Volumes Tuned to a Linear Site

The master plan reads as a set of long built forms laid along the site's linear geometry. Bus bays, boarding zones and parking sit where they can be reached directly from the arterial roads, which trims the internal driving that typically clogs large terminals. Multilevel bus parking and idle bus zones, taxi and prepaid vehicle areas, and the maintenance, refuelling and service yards each claim a defined territory instead of spilling into one another.

Bridges and elevated connections tie the parking areas to the terminals and upper-level facilities. This lifts a portion of the pedestrian load off the ground, keeping the lower level legible for vehicles. Landscaped green buffers and lawns stitch between the programme blocks, giving the plan breathing room and a softer edge toward the surrounding city.

A Central Atrium as the Orientation Spine

Inside, the terminal organises itself around a large central atrium. Ticketing, waiting zones, retail, food courts and services all open onto this shared volume, so a first-time traveller can see where they need to go before they have to ask. Wayfinding here is spatial before it is graphic, with clear signage reinforcing what the section already communicates.

Administrative offices, commercial programme and hospitality occupy the upper floors, keeping passenger-facing functions close to the platforms. Shaded walkways, generous waiting areas and an emphasis on universal accessibility suggest a designer thinking about the elderly traveller or the parent with a stroller, not only about peak-hour throughput.

A Shell Roof That Shades, Filters and Generates

The expressive shell roof carries both the building's identity and much of its environmental strategy. It shades the interior and moderates daylight, filtering light and heat before they reach the public spaces below. Extensive roof-mounted solar panels are intended to let the building generate its own energy, while the atriums and open edges draw air through the terminal for natural ventilation, a sensible response to Delhi's heat.

The sustainability argument also loops back to circulation. By shortening internal travel distances, the plan lowers operational energy demand, and the green buffers help limit heat gain across the site. The point is that efficiency is not an add-on here; it is a consequence of the layout itself.

Why This Project Matters

Indian bus terminals are often treated as infrastructure first and architecture last, resulting in sprawling yards where pedestrians are an afterthought. The Dwarka ISBT reverses that hierarchy. By resolving conflicts between buses, cars, autos and people at the planning stage, it makes safety and clarity the foundation on which everything else is built.

Equally important is the decision to treat the terminal as an urban public building. Folding in commerce, offices and accommodation gives the site life beyond departure times and turns a transit point into an active node in the city. For a capital region facing growing demand for intercity mobility, the project offers a useful template: separate the flows, shorten the distances, and let the roof work as hard as the plan.

View the Full Project

About the Designers

Designer: Shubham Solanki

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Project credits: Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT) by Shubham Solanki.