A groundbreaking residential project in the coastal village of Vagator, Goa, India, is pioneering the use of mass timber construction in a country where concrete has dominated building practices for over a century. The 8,650-square-foot Timber Residence, designed by Architecture Discipline and completed in 2023, represents a significant experiment in sustainable building materials and construction methods that could revolutionize residential design in India.
Designed for Sahil Barua, co-founder of India's largest e-commerce logistics company, the project emerged from a brief that specified only functional requirements, granting the architects creative freedom to explore unconventional materials. Having spent his childhood on the Louis Kahn-designed Indian Institute of Management campus in Ahmedabad, Barua possessed an intrinsic appreciation for authentic material expression, which the design team leveraged as an opportunity to experiment with sustainable alternatives to traditional construction methods.
The house is strategically positioned at the highest point of a steeply sloped, verdant site, oriented toward the Chapora River to the north with commanding views of the Arabian Sea to the northwest. "The way a building touches the ground is important, as this is the level at which the user first establishes contact with the building," explains principal architect Akshat Bhatt. To preserve the site's existing slope and vegetation, the home is elevated on a minimally invasive foundation system of stilts and concrete retaining walls, protecting it from moisture damage while minimizing environmental impact.
The client's focused personality inspired the home's unidirectional form—a single, linear block topped with a pitched roof specifically designed for Goa's intense monsoon seasons. The superstructure comprises eleven glulam portal frames that define the central volume of the residence. Glulam, or glued laminated timber, represents a form of mass timber known for its structural integrity and significantly lower carbon footprint compared to steel, while offering comparable strength characteristics.
The construction process showcased the efficiency of mass timber building methods through collaboration with Artius, a specialized manufacturer. The two-story post-and-beam beach house was prefabricated in Artius' Gurugram facility and assembled on-site in just 30 days by a lean team of nine workers. Precision-engineered post anchors secured the glulam column-beam frame to the concrete foundation, creating a robust, efficient, and visually striking structure while minimizing waste and site damage.
The home's interior spaces are organized in an open-plan scheme within the linear block, with the ground level featuring minimal walls and maintaining an untouched external envelope. A spacious living and dining area unfolds within this space, while semi-private guest bedrooms occupy the rear portion of the volume. The double-height living space features a large glazed opening that floods the interior with natural light and provides expansive views of the surrounding landscape. Additional illumination comes through a skylight running along the roof's ridge throughout the home's length, facilitating natural ventilation by allowing hot air to escape.
A light staircase leads to the mezzanine floor, which includes a gallery passageway overlooking the living space and connecting to the master bedroom. This gallery space is specifically designed to showcase the client's extensive collection of eclectic artwork. In contrast to the home's primary linear form, the kitchen and dining area projects outward as a deconstructed space clad in metal, creating architectural drama and spatial delight while overlooking both the pool and a kitchen garden.
The home accommodates a private wood workshop on the lower level, housed in a glass-lined volume naturally lit by clerestory windows. This space opens onto a partially shaded timber deck that functions as an extended outdoor activity area, with its edge demarcated by planters rather than physical boundaries to maintain an unhindered connection to the natural environment.
The interior design philosophy emphasizes the structural timber elements as the primary aesthetic feature, negating the need for additional cladding or finishes. The mass timber frames are expressed in their raw, authentic form, imparting tactile quality to the indoor spaces. Black granite flooring contrasts with white walls conceived as blank canvases for future personalization. Furniture selections remain simple and minimal, including a 15-foot-long live-edge dining table crafted from a single timber panel and modern leather-upholstered pieces like Eames chairs and a Mies-inspired daybed.
The exterior showcases charred timber panels created using yakisugi, an ancient Japanese preservation technique that enhances durability and resistance to heat and moisture while creating a striking visual appearance. This treatment proves ideal for Goa's tropical climate, resulting in a facade that ages gracefully while reacting uniquely to natural elements. The distinctive charcoal gray exterior distinguishes the house from its natural surroundings while maintaining visual harmony with the landscape.
The site's landscape design reflects the client's athletic lifestyle as a triathlete who prefers outdoor training. A 25-meter-long rectangular pool runs along the house's length, serving as an exercise facility, while extensive kitchen gardens allow for food cultivation. Most existing trees were preserved to create natural boundaries between the property and the village street, with carefully maintained lawns framing views of the residence and balancing natural and constructed elements.
This innovative project establishes a significant precedent for sustainable residential design in India, demonstrating that mass timber construction can compete economically and environmentally with traditional concrete methods. The residence not only serves as a tranquil sanctuary for creative rejuvenation but also proves that unconventional materials combined with cutting-edge construction technology can create minimal, progressive architecture suitable for India's climate and building requirements.
