A Tropical Treat

Manmade and nature; built and unbuilt, meet and meld in this wonderful tropical second home designed by ADND in Sasawane, Alibaug.

Curated by: Rupali Sebastian
Photographs: Photographix India; courtesy ADND

Set in one of Alibaug’s quaint coastal villages, Casa Feliz is born of a desire to connect with nature by catalyzing a different spatial experience… one which urges you to discard the mundane and embark on a journey of peace and serenity. It begins with a driveway that meanders through clusters of mature trees and culminates at a brick facade punctuated by a 20-foot-wide steel entrance door — symbolising the threshold between the outside and inside worlds. The narrative that unfolds beyond this portal embraces climate and context, where the dense landscape, the weather, the smell of the earth and the pleasant visuals of perennial blooms become woven into an experience that melds a tropical lifestyle with a culturally-conscious building style.

The master plan of the 10,000-sq-ft second home is articulated as two L-shaped blocks that embrace a squarish courtyard with palms and mounds of green. Forming the heart of the house, the court provides visuals to the surrounding public spaces and the circulation corridor on its periphery. The building blocks that bound it depict contrasting natures: one is solid and grounded, while the other is light and permeable. Materiality plays outs as clay bricks that bring in the required warmth and metal elements that introduce sharpness and a contemporary look. Larger-than-life artefacts and a petrified wood centre table form some of the protagonists in the house. An elevated swimming pool, edged in dressed stone masonry and detached from the structure by a gravel deck, possesses the vibe of a natural oasis. 

Fact file

Project: Casa Feliz
Location: Sasawane, Alibaug, Maharashtra
Area: 10,000 sq ft
Principal architects: Shobhan Kothari and Anand Menon
Design team: Dinesh R Thakur and Benson D’Souza
Landscape architect: Kunal Maniar & Associates