Indian architecture office Red Brick Studio has completed a house in the Western Ghats mountain range featuring a curved roof that is lifted above pigmented-plaster walls.
The Cove House was designed as a retreat for a client who wanted to escape his busy life in the city and enjoy weekends in the mountainous region near Pune.
A view of the Western Ghats mountains and valley can be seen from The Cove House
The property is built on a hillside surrounded by dense forest overlooking the nearby Panshet Dam. Red Brick Studio developed a design that utilises the site's slope to partially conceal the building.
"Upon seeing the site and its surrounds, our first response was to create a built form which would try and blend in rather than stand out," the architects claimed. "Rather than typically using the flat part for construction, we proposed to set the house beyond this zone and use the natural topography of the site to tuck away majority of the house from the view at the entrance."
The architects incorporated the slope of the land into the design
From the entrance level, most of the building is hidden from view down the slope. Walls that emerge from the earth form a solid mass topped with the slender roof that is supported by angled columns.
Between the walls and roof, a row of clerestory windows maintains the view towards the valley through the building and allows plenty of daylight to reach the internal living areas.
Red pigment was added to the plaster for...