Planning Around Nature
The built mass is positioned carefully within the natural clearings, ensuring that not a single mature tree was disturbed. This resulted in a linear planning strategy, where spaces open outwards to embrace garden views and connect with the site’s varying landscapes. The home consists of a main hall, two bedrooms, and a kitchen, with circulation spaces designed to offer constant visual access to greenery.
A large semi-covered verandah acts as the social heart, bridging the indoors with the outdoors. This space seamlessly spills into an edge pool aligned to capture views of the expansive lawn and the treescape beyond, a vantage point that becomes the perfect sunset viewing spot.
The Landscape as an Extension of the Home
The landscape design is as deliberate as the architecture. It includes:
• A kitchen garden for fresh produce, reinforcing the home’s self-sustaining ethos.
• Multiple sit-out pockets placed under tree canopies or along the garden edge, each offering a different mood and degree of privacy.
• A walking track that loops around the site, encouraging a slow, mindful connection with the outdoors.
Every path, bench, and transition space is positioned to capture a specific frame of nature, a flowering branch in spring, a shadow pattern in the afternoon, or a breeze passing through the neem trees.
Interiors that Breathe
The interiors follow a minimalist, resort-like aesthetic using earthen and pastel tones. Light wood panelling and subtle textural finishes bring warmth, while large sliding glass openings dissolve the boundary between interior and exterior. The main hall is designed for openness, with uninterrupted views toward the pool and gardens, while the bedrooms are oriented for privacy without losing sight of greenery.
Natural daylight floods every space, reducing the need for artificial lighting during the day, and passive ventilation ensures comfort without over-reliance on mechanical cooling.
Material Palette and Mood
The material selection emphasizes calmness and tactile comfort, muted stone floors for a cool underfoot feel, smooth plaster finishes in warm neutrals, and a ceiling treatment in the verandah with a natural wood tone to complement the green surroundings. This restrained palette ensures that nature remains the star, while the architecture quietly frames and enhances it.
A Dialogue Between Built and Unbuilt
This weekend retreat is not just a getaway; it is a carefully choreographed dialogue between the built form and the living landscape. Every window frames a scene, every open space invites use, and every sunset reaffirms the home’s connection to its context.
It is a place where architecture listens to the land, and in return, the land offers a timeless backdrop for rest, recreation, and reconnection.
Weekend Retreat at the Outskirts of Ahmedabad
Set on a 59,740.48 sq.ft. plot amidst the tranquil outskirts of Ahmedabad, this weekend home is envisioned as an escape into nature, a place where the built form and landscape are inseparable. The site came with a rare gift: a thriving orchard of amla, chikoo, mango, jamun, palms, and neem trees. From the very first sketch, the design intent was clear, preserve every existing tree and allow them to dictate the orientation, footprint, and rhythm of the architecture.