Some could describe Retreat Home as a diamond within a forest, and for the Indian diamond merchant who owns it, it is exactly that. While private and secluded in Surat, Gujarat, the generous home is built around pockets that foster warm interactions between its occupants and, perhaps more importantly, with its luscious green surrounds.
“The idea was to envisage a space where rustic extravagance entwines with comfort,” say the designers at Neogenesis. “Every detail is meticulously crafted to create lasting memories for the family when they escape the frenzied hustle and bustle of city life.” Grounded in its surrounding greenery, this weekend home uses materiality and landscape as the bones of its design.
It seems almost every surface has some sort of contact with greenery – whether it’s the large window openings, the balconies with cascading planting, or the internal courtyard that hosts various liveable zones off the large open air area. “Each threshold has been very meticulously designed,” say the designers, “making [any space] agreeably enjoyable in any weather.”
While the home is highly contemporary in nature, Neogenesis incorporated various architectural features that are traditionally found in many Indian homes. “Wooden-finished trellis on the living room and the sports room were used to cut out the south-west sun while witnessing a varying sociography throughout the day.” In the key living area, a quintessential Indian swing takes centre stage.
The design team has made nods towards traditional Indian homes that also extend to the overall materiality of the building; they chose to wrap the home’s external skin in materiality that is local to India. The ground floor “uses rubble masonry of Rajula stone to create a visually strong base,” they explain. Above, local bricks are left exposed. The architects chose to express the concrete slab that separates the two floors, creating a bold band that they claim “adds a layer of visual interest and influences the perceived scale” of the building. To cap the structure, Neogenesis opted for Mangalore tiles instead of alternative roof sheeting, with plywood panels cladding the underside to inject warmth into the interior spaces held within.
The building stands not only as a contemporary form within its lush green surrounds, but also one that respectfully leans into Indian construction techniques and the enduring materiality that is often associated with homes in this region. For Neogenesis, it was about creating “a timeless eminence that can withstand changing architectural trends, often improving in appearance over time as [the building] ages gracefully and gains character.”
Inside, a similar philosophy applies. Pale lime-plastered walls eliminate more western construction materials such as plasterboard sheets and painted finishes, leaning instead into more organic materials found nearby. Kota stone is also used across almost all rooms in the home. Opting to lay the flooring in different patterns across various zones of the home, the designers share how this was a tool that helped them to define particular spaces. While laid in a more orderly fashion through areas such as hallways, the stone in the living area is laid in a more terrazzo-like pattern, prompting more organic and casual living. The designers explain how they even laid “Kota stone strips to form a carpet-like look” in certain rooms.
Grand and bold, Retreat Home’s several opulent amenities are perhaps the key items that separate it from the everyday Indian home, making it what may very well be a diamond in Suraj. A semi-outdoor room in the corner of the home holds a jacuzzi, which is rarely found in homes in India. Nearby, various private sports courts such as cricket grounds and a basketball court share designated outdoor facilities such as showers and powder rooms. Two large sweeping decks wrap the perimeter of the building, looking onto large private fields beyond, which, in an Indian home, is almost as rare as a diamond itself.
