Images sourced from Anupama Kundoo

Wall House in Auroville is an experimental house designed by sustainability champion Anupama Kundoo. The architecture employs a play in proportions to create comfortable yet dramatic spatial envelopes. The house is built entirely with locally sourced materials in new, innovative ways to create soothing, earthy spaces that respond to the warm, humid climate.

Wall House is predominantly constructed with the vernacular ‘Achukkal’ brick, once ubiquitous to the building landscape in Tamil Nadu. Known for their unique flat, thin profiles and their distinctive red colour, Achukkal bricks are typically made out of left-over silt that is collected from farmlands around. They are then shaped by hand and fired in clay ovens for strength and stability. The bricks are deemed to be extremely sustainable, given their long life, low cost of production, and the sparing amounts of energy use for manufacturing.

The earthy palette and warm finishes move beyond the brick walls and are found throughout the house. The august clay pot vault above the double-height living space and the innovative filler slab roof above the dining area are particularly worthy of mention.

Each facade of Wall House sports unique fenestrations that bring in fresh air and ample daylight. On one side, a series of louvered windows built out of local mango wood and completed with unpolished granite stone come into sight. On the other side, a series of pivoting ferrocement screens open the house to the verdant landscape around when open, and bring beautiful light and shadow patterns indoors when closed.

Life in Goa has a laid-back, luxurious simplicity that is hard to come by in most of our cities today. People who move here are typically looking to leave the rat race behind in pursuit of a slower lifestyle that offers infinite and diverse opportunities to live in harmony with the land, to embrace the local culture, to enjoy the natural abundance as well as savour the bounties brought by changing seasons.

While Goa is a small state, each of its neighbourhoods offer different and unique living experiences. For anyone who is considering moving to Goa or buying a house in Goa, here is a detailed analysis of what one can expect from the neighbourhoods of North Goa.

PANJIM & ITS SURROUNDINGS

Image sourced from The Culture Trip.

PROS:

As the capital city, Panjim is extremely well connected and relatively easier to access. It is a quaint and small town that bridges the old and the new - it offers modern residential amenities while also retaining historic neighbourhoods such as Fountainhas. Panjim, is at its core, a residential area primarily and therefore also has a robust presence of schools around. It is also close to the beach stretches of Miramar, Caranzalem, and Dona Paula.

CONS:

It may not be easy to get a large, spacious house with a backyard in Panjim. The houses available are largely present in apartments and the availability of outdoor space within a plot is hard to come by.

ALDONA, MOIRA & POMBURPA

Image sourced from Tripoto.com

PROS:

Located to the east of the highway, these are quaint villages in North Goa that are positioned at a distance from the beach belt and are therefore saved from Goa’s maddening tourist crowds. The villages offer a quiet lifestyle meant for people who want to coexist with locals and enjoy the real Goa. However, these areas have been gaining popularity over the last ten years as prime locations for countryside vacation homes. These areas typically contain vacation houses built by expats and Indians who live abroad.

CONS:

It is a bit of a trek to the beach from these areas. The closest beaches are about 40-45 minutes away. These areas are also sought after for their pristine and undisturbed natural habitats. Thus, one should expect to entertain the local flora and fauna in their home.

ASSAGAO & SIOLIM

Image sourced from Ghoomophiro.com

PROS:

These were traditionally well-to-do villages that today have some gorgeous and large heritage houses. These villages are closer in proximity to the beach belt and see a lot of local as well as tourist activity. The neighbourhood hosts multiple restaurants and stores of different kinds, so it is charged with buzz, life, and movement throughout the day.

CONS:

Unfortunately, the quintessential quietude of Goa is no longer to be found in these areas. Commercial activity has taken over and most parts of these villages are overbuilt in the name of development.

NERUL, BETHE & REIS MAGOS

Image sourced from Alvira-Ventures

PROS:

These are pictureque villages that are steeped in history. They are also strategically located. Positioned midway between the Candolim beach belt and Panjim, they make the beachside as well as the townside easily accessible.

CONS:

Gentrification has rapidly taken over these areas as well. It may be possible to get a beautiful row house in these areas, however, bigger houses and larger plots will not be easy to come by.

To compare North Goa and South Goa, visit our analysis here.

To know more about building a house in Goa, read our series: Designing a House in Goa

We have recently started work on a small house for a lovely young family in Talpona village in Goa. The focus will be on indoor-outdoor living and creating opportunities to connect with nature. The project site is contoured and verdant, with lush trees meeting the eye every side we turn. Our vision for the project is to bring land and life together, through timeless contemporary-vernacular architecture. As we explore the relationships between space and site, we ask ourselves repeatedly,

What are the views that we can frame? How can we create open, continuous and connected spaces? How much light and breeze comes through? How can we create pockets around different natural clusters? How will each space change with time to allow for multiple experiences?

Photograph of Nivim, by Bharath Ramamrutham

The opportunity to build on a contoured site can be both a challenge and a blessing. Even as it requires unique structural solutions, a contoured plot of land offers great design advantages. The sloping site automatically facilitates unobstructed views. It allows the building envelope to feel like a private sanctuary because there is no close visual connection with other neighbouring buildings beneath or above. The rolling site terrain also allows the architecture to cascade, creating multiple distinct ways of experiencing the space and its surroundings. For our houses in Goa, we use the following principles to build on terraced sites sensitively and sustainably.

• When we build on a contoured site, we refrain from cutting or filling excessively. As a principle, the land topography is retained as much as possible.

• Every contoured site speaks a unique story. The soil, water and vegetation indicate how the site fits into the regional topography. The natural paths created indicate how water flows through the site from higher to lower contours. While designing, we like to take a site positive approach and make minimum alterations to these existing natural systems. This ensures that we are not tampering with the natural water flows within the site, hence avoiding any unexpected flooding during the abundant monsoon in Goa.⠀

• We also like to keep the site land around these water channels permeable without any cement cover. The natural paving ensures that there is a simple but high functioning rain water harvesting system where water is allowed to percolate into the ground and does not flow down and away from the site, preventing any water deficits in the future.

• One of our first steps on any site is to understand everything there is to know about the greenery. The kind of vegetation usually indicates where the water collects on site and shows the different kinds of life forms within the site. It helps in developing a cohesive ecological response strategy while designing.

• Understanding the vegetation also helps us design and build with nature. Unlike flat sites, where one would typically only see the base or trunk of a tree from ground level, a contoured site allows one to interact with the dense foliage of a tree on a higher level and the woody bark of another tree on a lower level simultaneously. We try to find these vistas to celebrate and curate through architecture.

• We look for terrain and topo sheets to place the site inside its regional context. Most of these sheets are easy to access, available online, and are often on university websites. Once we have an initial understanding of the levels, we model the site in 3D using software such as Google Earth, SketchUp, and Rhino. Most of these software also allow us to geo-locate our contoured plot to check for accuracy.

• While proposing a design, we usually look at a maximum of a 1m level difference from one space to another. This is done to avoid cutting and filling as much as possible and to move with the land terrain.⠀

• We love to use a material palette that is either sourced locally or naturally and build using local construction techniques. We take cues from the surrounding sites and buildings around us to identify the most effective and least intrusive construction methods for every piece of land we build on.

Practicing these simple steps helps us to build sustainably and design houses that are gentle on the land they stand on. To know more about the methods, tips, tricks and processes we follow while designing, visit our blog series, Designing A House In Goa.

In this IG Live session, we speak to Monish Siripurapu, Founder of Ant Studio in Delhi, India. Studio Ant works at the intersection of art, nature, and technology. Through their research and development wing Coolant they have made strides in building sustainable innovations through their all natural air cooling products. In this conversation, we discuss the science and method behind building this cooling system. We understand the system of Evaporative Cooling and the opportunities it presents in different contexts. We also speak about the process of research behind building this product and explore the nuances of parametric design. Tune in to watch our entire conversation.

In this IG Live, I speak to Malvika Mehta, Founder of MLIME. Malvika's team in Rajasthan has done some lovely work with lime plasters bringing the use of lime to modern buildings while also using it to conserve historic structures. Over our conversation we discuss the romance and practicalities of lime. We compare the use of IPS with lime and oxide, often found in old houses in Goa. We discuss the heritage of lime as well the potential it has to become a contemporary natural material. We get into details about lime's breathability, moisture management, and its effectiveness in indoor-outdoor spaces that are exposed to harsh heat and rain. We also speak about the process of making lime, its maintenance and cost efficiencies. Finally, we discuss the various finishes, colours and textures that a lime plaster comes in.

To the jaded, the mention of green buildings implies a marketing gimmick, and to an idealist, it conjures images of buildings built with mud and bamboo with compostable toilets. Invoking a strong response either ways, we recently concluded a Q&A session on Green Buildings on Instagram. The session had over 300-people join over the course of a 30-minute session. 

The first question that we tackled was, ‘What is a Green Building’? My answer, ‘A green building is one where you’re trying to reduce the impact of the building on the environment.’ It is about making the right choices at every stage of the project, with the ultimate goal to minimise one’s footprint on the environment. To make a building green, the architect must treat the environment as a key design criteria from the first step of the design process right until the occupancy stage. 

It is our commitment to build sustainably and we green certify all our houses in Goa. Our first home, Nivim was the first green certified residence in Goa. It received a gold-level certification and our project Navovado has recently been awarded the platinum-level certification by the Indian Green Building Council. Platinum being the highest level available in the ranking system.

While a building can absolutely be green without a certificate, a green certification is a great way to stay accountable to oneself throughout the design and construction process. It provides the involved professionals with a detailed list of checks and balances with specifications and design criteria that need to be considered and incorporated at every stage of the design and construction process.

In India, TERI (home-grown) and IGBC (offshoot of USGBC) are the primary agencies that issue green certifications. Both these organisations use a credit based system for the evaluation of green building design and performance. The credits fall under the following categories: Site Planning, Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Indoor Air Quality, and Materials among others. Throughout the process, extensive documentation with detailed calculations are required which is then reviewed and tested by the certification body on site. While the system is elaborate, it proves effective as a way to stay true to one’s goals of sustainability. However, it is important for architects to avoid incorporating design elements or features, just for the sake of securing points and focus instead on strategies that are feasible for that specific project life cycle and use.

Demystifying Green Building

I would like to cut through the clutter on this topic. Specially as I would like to demystify the concept and express that green building design is not necessarily a specialized science, nor is it forbiddingly technical where only certain qualified professionals can build green buildings. On the contrary, it is my strong belief that a building built with the basic principles of good architecture would do very well on the green scorecard. The process of green building design starts with a deep understanding of the site, local climate, wind patterns, local materials and resources. Once a building is sited to take advantage of the sun and wind to maximize daylight and cross ventilation, is designed to be responsive to the weather patterns and is built using local materials, then that in itself is a great start towards making the building green.

In the predominantly hot and humid climate in India, one can further think of reducing the heat gain through an informed design of the building envelope. This will have a tremendous impact on the thermal comfort within a building and hence reduce the energy use in the building. Water is another key natural resource that is dwindling with increased human activity on our planet. Rainwater harvesting provides a simple (sometimes ‘no-brainer’) solution to this problem. The idea is simple, instead of allowing rainwater to drain away from your site, one can design systems to either collect it and reuse on the site itself, or feed it back to the earth to recharge the underground aquifers. In addition, a simple introduction of dual flushes can reduce water use by 50-60% and aerators to taps, which can reduce the water use by upto 70% percent. Aerators mix the water from the taps with air, and as a result the water pressure feels the same even when the amount of water flowing through the taps are reduced.

When it comes to building materials, it is wise to use local materials. In most cases, the vernacular building techniques and the local labor would be well versed with the local material. The green quotient of buildings can be further increased by choosing materials with a higher recycled content, higher recyclability, reusing salvaged materials and materials that are rapidly renewable such as bamboo.

The choices to go green are not always straightforward. Cement for example presents a big conundrum in the building industry. The production of cement produces large quantities of CO2, a greenhouse gas with a lasting impact on global warming and climate change. In fact, the production of every kilogram of Portland cement produces an equal amount (one kilogram) of CO2. This presents a huge challenge for our industry where the widely accepted structural material is cement. Wood is another material that presents a difficult choice with sustainability. On one hand, it is a naturally renewable resource and is biodegradable, and wood can be used and reused multiple times. But at the same time, we are cutting irreplaceable virgin rainforests at an alarming pace with long lasting disastrous impact.

Finally, a green building doesn’t have to cost a lot more. Majority of green building strategies are common sense and based on sound architectural principles, which do not come with an additional cost. In addition, there are simple systems that are available at extremely reasonable prices. The aerators mentioned earlier are a free addition offered by most companies that sell sanitary fittings. The difference is for the architect, client and the vendor to be aware of these systems and integrate them into the building design in a timely manner. 

We must as a community of architects pledge to make green building design as important as aesthetics in our projects. A simple change in the thought process can have a long lasting impact on the quality of life for our future generations, which is a cause worth fighting for.

---

---

How does one build in a rural location with the objective to have minimal or zero-impact on the environment?

This question is the primary driver behind the site planning strategy for The House with Three Pavilions located in Goa, India.

The project site is located on the edge of rice paddy fields with a dense cluster of local forest trees on one side and a coconut grove in the middle. The following diagram illustrates some of the critical measures taken as part of the site planning strategy.

WHY IS AN ECOLOGICAL RESPONSE ADOPTED?

• As Goa gentrifies, rampant new construction threatens to rock the delicate balance between nature and man. This project is our attempt to showcase that the built form can tread lightly on the land with conscious design and measured planning. 

• The design focus is to leave a minimal or zero-impact on the functioning natural ecological cycles at the site that pre-date the new construction. 

• The site is geographically located along the path of the watershed from surrounding higher elevations that finally drains into the Arabian Sea. The design planning is oriented to support and improve the water movement through a comprehensive water management plan.

• The water management plan is implemented to address three primary concerns around the site - to recharge the depleted underground water table, to increase water availability for the paddy fields bordering the site, and to reduce the water load on the Municipal Draining system.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE?

• During the survey, a natural depression was found at the center of the site with a perennial wetland hosting diverse flora and fauna. This existing depression was dug out (until the underground water level in the driest month) and integrated with the existing well on the site. Today, this natural wetland feature is preserved and developed into a seasonal waterbody which also forms the focal point for the landscape created using a native planting strategy.

• All the roof rain water runoff is captured and along with the site surface runoff, it is directed into the central seasonal pond for rain water harvesting. The edges of the pond were formalized with mortar-less retaining walls built in local laterite rubble. This was done to reduce the erosion of the pond edges and to retain the water as a permanent feature in the landscape

• The pond was further connected to a newly planned system of bioswales that spread the collected runoff water over a larger site surface area increasing the rate and extent of percolation on the site. This keeps the level of our underground water table high throughout the year and the soil moist, reducing the garden irrigation requirement in the dry season.

• The bioswales use no cement in their construction and can absorb water through the walls and the base. The construction of the bioswales and the pond without cement, also allows for the water to remain clean without any toxicity of the cement leaching into the landscape.

HOW DOES THIS CREATE A POSITIVE IMPACT?

• The water management was a critical part of this project and offsets the load on the rudimentary public storm water systems found in the Goan villages especially during the heavy monsoons.

• As a result of our efforts, the underground water levels have been improved hence negating the impact of the house construction on the environment. We have been able to prevent any additional flooding at the neighboring fields or any other low-lying area in the village. 

• The project also prioritises the enhancement of the site’s resources and biodiversity. In doing so, it also creates a positive impact on its surroundings by protecting the agrarian viability which is constantly threatened by new construction and increased human activity. Our success can be measured by the number of birds, reptiles, butterflies and insects that can be found on the site today. We have uncovered peacock eggs, cuckoo eggs and baby parrots on our site. It is a win to see that the animals continue to find the site a safe space even as they come in close contact with the human life around, making this truly a space for all seasons and species.

(Water Management Plan in consultation with Pallavi Latkar and team at Grassroots Research Mumbai.)

Geoffrey Bawa is an unforgettable and continuous inspiration. With every project we embark on, we see our inspiration translate into our work - in design, in spatial character, in connection and reverence towards nature - finding new meaning in every site we build on. Finding Bawa is a gallery we have compiled as an ode to the master architect. As we reflect on our projects, it feels great to see many of our spaces carrying the sensibilities and sensitivites that Bawa inspired throughout his practice.

Geoffrey Bawa was one of the original proponents of Tropical Modernism, a design movement in which sensitivity for local context combines with the form-making principles of modernism. His architecture led to the formation of a new architectural identity and aesthetic, redefining what it meant to be modern, celebrating a close connection with one’s built and natural environments.

In 1960, Bawa was commissioned to design the house for artist Ena De Silva. Set in Colombo, the plot was very much enmeshed in the busy urban fabric with the activity and movement of any capital city.

Bawa’s first response was to turn the house in on itself and resurrect the courtyard. The house was conceived as a series of pavilions and verandas contained within a high surrounding boundary wall. A major central courtyard led forward to five smaller satellite courtyards. Light and air poured into every room, with notions of inside and outside blurred nearly beyond distinction.

Its spatial qualities were enhanced by the choice of materials: walls of plastered brick, roofs of half-round Portuguese tiles, columns of satin wood, windows of timber lattice, floors of rough granite- materials that were used in ancient Sri Lankan mansions, but brought together in the contemporary open plan format, assembled in an entirely different manner.

After nearly 40 years of living here, Ena was finally forced to sell the house owing to health concerns and mounting bills. Her land in central Colombo was immensely valuable and was quickly snapped up by an adjoining hospital. But the idea of demolition was met by public outcry that made Urban Development Authority insist that the house must be preserved in its entirety.

This is when the Bawa Trust proposed an unusual solution - to move the house in order to reconstruct it. A team of architects, archaeologists and development contractors came together, led by conservation specialist Nilan Cooray. Everything that could be salvaged from Ena de Silva’s home, including the doors and windows, was carefully collected, stored, and moved.

Unlike examples from Japan and Norway, where timber structures had been relocated successfully, Cooray had to work with masonry, some of which was falling apart. The house was stripped down to its bones - every pebble in the courtyard was numbered, every shape was traced, before he was done. They paid particular attention to replicating the structure’s orientation to the Sun, because that was essential to Bawa’s original palette of light and shadow. Working from the roof down, they dismantled the house, which was boxed up and loaded on to lorries to be carted off to a plot next door to Lunuganga, Bawa’s beautiful garden home.

The process took six years from start to finish, and the Ena De Silva house was finally assembled to completion in its new home in 2016.

Relying on black and white photos and surviving furniture, the Bawa Trust intends to return Ena’s house to a spitting image of how she had kept it, even replanting the garden with her choice of plants. It takes the spirit and act of conservation to uncharted territory, preserving Bawa’s legacy for generations to come.

---

---

What is a green building?

A green building is one where you’re trying to reduce the impact of the construction on the environment. It is about making the right choices at every stage and  looking at every possible way, to optimise resources during and post construction and to minimise or offset one’s footprint right from the design stage to the occupancy stage. Right from positioning the building on the site, being mindful of the solar and wind orientation, looking at the existing resources on site to incorporate them into the building, preserving the underground water table - the environment is part of the design criteria from the very first step of the design process.

Here are some tips for an architect to design a green building

• The building should be designed for its local climate and weather

• The design should be site specific

• The natural features on the site must be preserved whether it is the trees, the underground water table, the contours and terrain, etc

• Plan openings for maximised daylight and cross ventilation

• Reduce the urban heat island effect 

• For landscaping, use lesser amounts of non permeable surfaces like concrete and more permeable surfaces like grass that allow water to percolate and recharge the underground water table

• Reduce concrete exposure because concrete tends to absorb a lot of heat

• Enhance thermal comfort by thinking about all parts of the envelope - the walls, the windows, the shading devices, the roof, etc - to reduce energy expenditure

• Conserve water and collect or harvest rainwater

• Use aerators for taps and dual flushes for WC

• Use solar water heaters

• Use solar panels if the site allows for it

• Compost using house and site waste and feed it back to the garden

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Every little detail helps.

Links to our previous Blog Posts on Green Building:

• GREEN CERTIFICATION

• WHY BUILD GREEN

• GREAT ONLINE RESOURCES FOR GREEN BUILDING

• GREEN FEATURES AT NIVIM