The house embodies a subliminal connection with its surroundings. Sited amongst the ghats around a tranquil lake, this is a weekend home for a dancer and her family. Thoughtfully orientated, the homes unfolds in a series of connected pavilions. Each pavilion having its own spatial purpose flowing to the next. Each space holds a unique perspective of the lake view. Designed to awaken with the pulse of nature; life in this home is therapeutic. Set along a north- south axis, the sun registers itself on the east and west facing skin of the home. The solstice sun rays align with the deliberate colour blocks on the living room wall, honouring the universe and time.

One arrives at the breathtaking lake view in a deep veranda. The veranda gives a sense of shelter in the wild outdoors. Just beyond; the half-moon natural stone salt water pool, is encircled by a wraparound deck. A ring of social spaces; the dining pavilion, the living, the kitchen and the verandah pavilion form their own constellation.

At the periphery on either end are clusters of bedrooms. These rooms although private and quiet, are connected by their vantage points of the lake. Navigation through the house is playful, sensitizing one to the environment.

The metal frame structure with expansive glazing is detailed with antique reclaimed timber elements. The sloping roofs float above the enclosures and their adjacent outdoor spaces. Each pavilion has a distinct sense of place. A seamless cast in situ floor connects the multiple spaces. The soft colour palate allows the eye to travel gently from inside to the outside.

The journey of the rain water is told in the successive sloping roofs. The roof and the ground are designed to detail this flow, emphasizing the change of seasons. The carefully channelled water paths are narrative of water and land. A reflection of ever-shifting life outside the walls. The roofscape, with its assembly of slopes, pays homage to the undulating hills in the horizon.

This home awakens as a living, breathing entity in conversation with the world outside. The architectural choreography, delineates a profound connection with the dwelling’s energy and the intricate rhythms of the household.

It is an ethereal dance of energies of people and place.

A constellation of pavilions unfolding in dialogue with lake, sun, and season

Cosmos House

Avantika & Avinash Goyal

Kamshet, Maharashtra

2020

Built Up : 13,844 sqft

AT A GLANCE

180

degree engagement with the lake views

PROJECT OVERVIEW

A weekend retreat set by a tranquil lake, Cosmos House unfolds as a series of pavilions that frame shifting views of the water and hills. Designed for a dancer and her family, the home is a therapeutic dialogue with nature, aligning sunlight, rainwater, and landscape into an architectural choreography.

The envelope is designed to awaken the senses with the registration of seasonal cycles of nature within the house.

On a closer look, geometry—especially the circle—is revealed as a recurring theme. “The [circle] returns throughout the apartment, in perimeters and in details,” says Singh. “Having completely revised the layout, I asked myself: how do I create the sensation of ‘feeling at home’? To translate the notions of warmth and security, I used the shape of a circle, which collects within itself but does not close, does not isolate.” The circles, peppered across the apartment, are not always obvious; they hide, and linger, until they suddenly erupt into view. And yet, the circle is ubiquitous: in the library, it pops up in the sculptural lamp by Michael Anastassiades for Flos; hides in plain sight in the backrest of the living room’s ‘Pipe’ armchairs by Moroso; and reappears in the delicate crown moulding across the apartment. It is both realized and implied; the Marmara marble flooring in the master bathroom traces an unmissable arc, while the black and white dome on the cc-tapis rug finds its other half only when the custom-designed semicircle table by Singh is placed next to it, adjusted to the perfect angle.