"We were fresh graduates working as junior architects in different architecture and interior design firms,” share the Indian architects Kasturi Wagh and Vineet Hingorani as they recall how their very first project together began in 2018 when Wagh’s parents hired the duo to design their second home. The capacious 10,000-square-foot contemporary villa sits on a one-acre lakeside plot in the village of Kamshet, in Maharashtra, India, allowing the residents to reconnect with nature through a series of viewing galleries.

The natural context of the plot served as a major source of inspiration for the architects. "Recalling our very first site visit, we remember being entranced by the lake and the spectacle of nature in front of us,” the architects reminisce. Designed for a family of five, a couple and their three kids one of whom is Wagh, the private residence features several lounging spaces and leisure activity areas. House by the Lake is made up of six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a living room, TV room, dining room, kitchen, sunroom, library and a temple within its cuboidal volumes. The central courtyard leads to the outdoor area that hosts a long pool, a jacuzzi and a lush lawn that brings one closer to the lake, making it perfect for large gatherings.

House by the Lake marks the beginning of Kasturi and Vineet’s partnership and kaviar:collaborative’s inception. “We remember sitting at a bar on a Friday evening after work and were toying around the design for this bungalow. What started as a mere two-minute discussion ended up being a two-hour-long designing session resulting in hand-drawn sketches on paper napkins and a concept which was ready for its first pitch to the homeowners.” After their design got accepted by Wagh’s parents, the duo spent time making the working drawings for the building for the next six months along with their day jobs. The construction of the villa began in 2019, during which the architects ventured abroad to pursue higher studies. As the pandemic in 2020 put a pause on the bungalow’s work, the architects faced a career shift, too, and came back to India, eventually setting up kaviar:collaborative in Mumbai. “We felt this halt was a boon to us as we could get back to working on the bungalow - we like to believe that the bungalow waited for us to come back and complete it to our heart’s content,” the architects share.

The north facade of House by the Lake is defined by monolithic elements, featuring minimal openings and a heavy horizontal concrete beam that defines the entrance to the upper level. “As one enters the site, an attempt has been made to architecturally create a structure that purposely hides/blocks the visitor's view of the lake beyond, only giving them small glimpses of the waterbody through minimal fenestrations and courtyard design,” the studio shares. Eight-feet tall black double doors reveal an elevated foyer with a bench that frames the lake through glass, revealing a double-height courtyard and a staircase that leads to the lower level.

The entrance foyer opens up to the large kitchen and dining room on its left, where the tall white walls contrast with the slender black metal elements of the kitchen island and the chairs and dark-finished wood. The kitchen cleverly conceals access to the pantry and the sunroom full of plants, natural ventilation and vertical louvres that change the mood in the room with the sun. Across the kitchen is a 12-seater live-edge dining table with a series of pendant lights suspended over it, overlooking the lake to the south of the house through a glass wall and capturing the evening sun through vertical slits that face the courtyard. Further down the hall is the temple, with an elevator and access to the sunroom on its left and two bedrooms on the right with views of the lake and a connected terrace.

On the right side of the entrance foyer lies the living and lounging areas, comprising a raised library with a long book and display case that complements the tall fixed glass windows. The wide steps leading to the library act as additional seating along with the movable, minimal design of furniture. The library’s flooring is made of striking reclaimed sleeper wood planks, which makes it stand out from the textured kota stone flooring that offers a grounded, tactile experience throughout the villa. A suspended net above the library area adds informality and playfulness to the space, accessible through a hidden staircase design, doubling as a storage section in the dark, moody TV room. Separated from the bar area by sliding glass doors, the TV room features a dark furniture design and is designed to receive less natural light as compared to other spaces, creating a perfect setting for movie and game nights for the family. The vertical glass interventions and the art frames along the bar wall add visual depth and variety, making it one of the most picturesque spaces in the home and a vibrant backdrop to the living hall, which extends to a large deck with a swing and ample space for outdoor lounging. An L-shaped sofa and a central modular seating form the living area, accentuated by tasteful wood and metal coffee tables and end tables. With the generous use of a glass facade in the residential design, having floor-to-ceiling length curtains in all spaces and vegetation around the villa ensures privacy for the residents.

The lower level of the residence features a garage, six bathrooms, four bedrooms with galleries, a yoga room, billiards and table tennis rooms, a board game area, a storage room for garden supplies and the central courtyard that opens up to the outdoor deck. A long swimming pool design balances the horizontality of the villa architecture, with a jacuzzi and a deck seating space on either side. The house attempts to integrate sustainability by incorporating solar panels on its sloped roofs and using reclaimed wood in flooring, the breakfast table and certain coffee tables. Large volumes of spaces, uninterrupted views of the lake, minimal colour palette in interior design, the earthiness of wood and stone surfaces and strategic furniture placement in spaces make for a grand yet comfortable residence design.

As their first architectural project, House by the Lake required Wagh and Hingorani to overcome several obstacles and challenges. “Being almost a three-hour drive from the city, it was not easy to visit the site on a daily basis,” says the duo. “Handling a project of this size was new for us at the time, there were multiple pointers and details to be discussed and planned out at every stage,” they add. Their learnings from their first project allowed them to confidently experiment in their future projects, resulting in a successful portfolio spanning residential architecture, residential interiors, retail design and hospitality sectors. “We like to believe that all the projects we have done so far are somewhat a representation of our clients’ personality and also really respond to its context in one way or another,” explain the architects on not having a signature design style in their practice and never wanting to develop one, as they believe in catering to the needs of the client above everything else. After five years of land scouting by the clients and five years of construction, the residence is close to the team’s hearts, especially since it was designed for Wagh’s family. Being their first architectural project, they were closely involved with all the stages of design and construction, making it an integral part of their professional journey.

House by the Lake reinterprets elements of traditional architecture such as courtyards, verandahs and a sloping roof, translating them into contemporary design features such as landscaping, galleries and solar power generation through the solar panels on the roof. The villa design establishes visual and physical relationships with its context through glass walls and semi-open spaces. Viewing it as “a step toward a more contextually aware and environmentally conscious architectural practice”, the architects believe that the fusion of contemporary approach with cultural context demonstrates the coexistence of modernism in the landscape of Indian architecture.

Project Details

Name: House by the Lake
Location: Kamshet, Maharashtra
Typology: Residence
Client: Wagh Family
Architect: kaviar:collaborative
Design Team: Kasturi Wagh and Vineet Hingorani
Area: 10,000 sqft (930 sqm)
Year of Completion: 2023