Villa in the Palms is named after the 19 towering coconut palms that thrived for decades on the land, which dictated the villa's concept and footprint. This four-bedroom house overlooks a field and a seasonal stream.

Embedded into the natural landscape, Villa in the Palms appears almost village-like, pockets of small homes nestled between 80-year-old coconut trees, nearly invisible from points further up the approach road. The fact that the trees on site existed for decades gives the overall house a very rooted presence.

Design Concept & Process
The studio’s design approach is to reconnect architecture with nature.

Designing a regular building block would have required the cutting down of several trees to accommodate the programme. To avoid this, the building was carefully designed between the trees, without disrupting the surroundings, and not a single tree was felled during construction.

Consequently, the structure is fragmented rather than monolithic, reminiscent of an old-time Goan village but at the same time entirely modern. Each bedroom on the ground floor, for example, feels like a separate home, replete with an en-suite bathrooms, a rear garden, a front garden and an internal courtyard flanked by laterite walls.These independent volumes are interconnected with decks, passages and bridges that meander through the trees and over pools and gardens.