The Chowgule House in Vasco, Goa, is a serene home built for an art-loving family and their treasures. The team at Opolis Architects has cleverly added subtle doses of drama to accord it distinction.
The entranceway of the home is defined by a cover of bushy green plant-and-tree cover. The façade itself is simple and earthy and mostly imagined across a white-and-brown tone range. The team, led by Sonal Sanchet and Rahul Gore have worked hard at maintaining a contemporary, ‘soft’ look for the house, so rough surfaces and contours are hard to come by here. Another critical aspect of the design is its ‘inside-outside’ perspective, where materials and forms have found continuation from the façade to the interiors, so as to retain a sense of oneness. The whole house is split into two specific blocks – one private and the other public.
The house, flushed with natural light, is non-frilly and largely unassuming in style, albeit with a solid personality. Being in this home means being in constant touch with the outside; the sense of enclosure here is never claustrophobic.
