The green oasis is an adaptive reuse project of an old Goan Portuguese house named Rupali, converting the space into a restaurant and bar called Terttulia, in the city of Panjim in Goa. The house Rupali was built sometime around the 1980s. It takes inspiration from the beloved porch referred to as the Balcao in most Goan houses. The place is sheltered under a massive bamboo canopy with vast elliptical openings creating an immersive atmospheric presence that evokes the susegad emotion of everyday life in Goa.

When we first visited the house Rupali, one thing we noticed that it did not have a balcao that welcomed you. The house was built to be so private and detached from the outside that the relationship between the house and the city was completely lost. We seized this opportunity to re-establish this connection through the design of the restaurant by conceiving it as the balcao of the house. We wanted the place to be very welcoming and accessible so that it feels like a balcao or even a garden under a bamboo canopy, that is as much a part of the city as it is of the house Rupali.

The restaurant was eventually conceived to grow out of the house in the form of a balcao resting under a massive bamboo canopy with an island bar central to the layout. It plays with the idea of a dichotomy existing in our present times of modern architecture by emphasising on dual tones and palettes (green monolithic IPS and terrazzo against the contrasting natural bamboo), while blurring the boundaries between public/private, indoor/outdoor, home and the city.

Credits:
Arko