A Riverfront Home in the Ghats is Camouflaged With a Green Roof
A sensitive approach to building allows this holiday home in Karjat, Maharashtra to become a part of the site it's built on
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with their children
Location: Karjat, Maharashtra
Year built: 2015
Size: 300 square metres; 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Interior design: Shefali Balwani and Robert Verrijt of Architecture Brio
Overlooking the banks of the river Ulhas in the foothills of the Western Ghats stands this subtle, unobtrusive building, designed by Shefali Balwani and Robert Verrjit of Architecture Brio. Their client is a corporate entrepreneur who’d lived for over a decade amidst the bustle of Mumbai and wanted a holiday home that would provide an escape from the chaos of the city; a home that was aesthetically modern and yet blended in with the landscape. “We wanted to create a home that coexists with its surroundings,” Shefali Balwani says. The architects conceived a building that attempts to blur the boundaries between the inside and the outside while mimicking nature. Designed with a cleverly concealed green roof, the Riparian House fully integrates with its surrounding environment and provides its inhabitants with stunning views of the landscape.
Photos by Ariel Huber
Who lives here: A couple with their children
Location: Karjat, Maharashtra
Year built: 2015
Size: 300 square metres; 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Interior design: Shefali Balwani and Robert Verrijt of Architecture Brio
Overlooking the banks of the river Ulhas in the foothills of the Western Ghats stands this subtle, unobtrusive building, designed by Shefali Balwani and Robert Verrjit of Architecture Brio. Their client is a corporate entrepreneur who’d lived for over a decade amidst the bustle of Mumbai and wanted a holiday home that would provide an escape from the chaos of the city; a home that was aesthetically modern and yet blended in with the landscape. “We wanted to create a home that coexists with its surroundings,” Shefali Balwani says. The architects conceived a building that attempts to blur the boundaries between the inside and the outside while mimicking nature. Designed with a cleverly concealed green roof, the Riparian House fully integrates with its surrounding environment and provides its inhabitants with stunning views of the landscape.
Photos by Ariel Huber
The house is nestled just below the top of a hillock in the foothills of the Western Ghats, a UNESCO-protected site.
The main approach to the home is on the western side, which looks out onto the river as it winds across agricultural fields. “We conceptualised a house that conveyed an endless
vastness. while still maintaining a sense of enclosure,” says Balwani
vastness. while still maintaining a sense of enclosure,” says Balwani
A flight of landscaped steps lead to the pool deck that stretches in front of the house towards the river. “The walls are built in Indian limestone in a ‘coarsed’ pattern, which make the house seem to rise out of the ground, giving it a solid base,” Balwani says.
A second flight of stairs leads to suspended timber deck, which floats above ground level. The dining and living areas, along with a master bedroom and bathroom, sit along this front face of the house. The wild grasses growing on the roof merge with the grasses growing on the embankments.
The outdoor deck offers a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. This space flows into the living and dining room and kitchen. On one side of the dining room is a corridor that leads to the bedrooms.
The house is built with materials like bamboo, timber planks, coarsed limestone masonry, yellow Jaisalmer limestone, galvanised mild steel frames with glass, sandblasted river-washed Kota and exposed concrete.
Read more about materials in Modern architecture
Read more about materials in Modern architecture
The screens of bamboo poles along the frontages of the home
create a layer of privacy while still allowing a play of light and an obstructed view of the river and the mountains beyond. “The bamboo enclosure creates a dialogue between the interior and the dramatically changing landscape,” Balwani says.
create a layer of privacy while still allowing a play of light and an obstructed view of the river and the mountains beyond. “The bamboo enclosure creates a dialogue between the interior and the dramatically changing landscape,” Balwani says.
The kitchen is located in the centre, at the heart of the home. This area opens out into into a light-filled, open-to-sky courtyard. “It is a hybrid of a courtyard house, a verandah house, a glass house and an underground house, “ says Balwani.
A rock surface which was exposed during excavation is left in its natural state to enhance the connect with the site.
The master bedroom and bathroom are located at a prime vantage point and offer views of the river to both the south and the west.
The covered verandahs by the bedrooms also allow for comfortably ventilated and shaded semi-indoor spaces.
From within the house, one has views of the Irshalgad hill fortress to the north and the river on the western side.
Indian homes with a view
Indian homes with a view
On the eastern side, all one can see of the house is a vegetated roof that merges with the top of the hillock.This green roof camouflages the house while substantially contributing to the natural cooling of the interiors.
Planted with drought-resistant grass, the roof merges almost seamlessly into the hillock on which the house rests.
“Our aim was to emphasise the confrontation between architecture and nature as well. The Riparian house opens to the nature around, exposes itself to it wholeheartedly, while at the same time hiding away as if it’s not really there, to begin with, ” Balwani concludes.
Read more:
Mumbai Houzz: A City Penthouse Fit For Royalty
Hyderabad Houzz: Lighting Takes Centre Stage in This Home’s Design
Tell us:
What did you like best about this house? Share in Comments below.
Read more:
Mumbai Houzz: A City Penthouse Fit For Royalty
Hyderabad Houzz: Lighting Takes Centre Stage in This Home’s Design
Tell us:
What did you like best about this house? Share in Comments below.