WOODEN WONDER

A sea-facing retreat by Architecture Discipline in Vagator, Goa, reimagines tropical living through sustainable design and India's first use of mass timber at this scale

- AKSHAT BHATT

Concrete-prized for its strength, longevity, and affordability—has long dominated the construction world. But the environmental toll of its carbon-heavy production is catching up. In the coastal village of Vagator, Goa, a new home offers a quiet yet radical alternative—one that replaces concrete with glulam, a form of mass timber, to craft a low-impact, high-performance residence.

The house belongs to Sahil Barua, co-founder of India’s largest e-commerce logistics company. With a brief that focused purely on functionality, we had creative freedom to shape a home aligned with the client’s lifestyle. Barua, who spent his childhood amid the exposed brick and concrete of the Louis Kahn-designed IIM Ahmedabad campus, came with a deep respect for honest materials—an outlook that encouraged the use of unconventional and sustainable choices.