The Mulshi Lake House has been ingeniously designed by Pune-based Navkar Architects to both ape and adapt to the natural topography of the hills. The look of the project - sprawling, fresh, and earthy - is only the most obvious feature of this building. The real brilliance of its design is in fact fulcrumed around its chosen topographical spot and the way it has been manoeuvred around it. The lake house stands down-slope from a road and uphill of sorts from the lake. This main structure then faces up to all the wonders of the beauteous lake; its walls separated by another segment of a relatively steeper hill.
Outside, the need for colour was understandably never felt, so it is all stone walkways, stone steps, and stone pillars, aside from the semi-open reading/napping/seating/entertainment segments. The views of the green slopes, placid waters, and moody clouds are sweeping and inescapable. Blame it on this feature that the closed-off sections of the house look almost cavernous in comparison! So to cheer up the mood, Girish Doshi had the walls inside painted canary yellow in parts, looking startlingly bold in a landscape of broody greys.
