An Architect’s Office, at Alto Porvorim, Goa – Mozaic, Dean D’ Cruz

The ‘Mozaic’ office is a simple building, sitting at the edge of a forest. Respecting the surrounding beauty, the building is very transparent, looking onto the greenery all around and gaining natural light from it. The site is a sloping one, with the upper level connected to an upper road and its floor stepped down in levels, to allow for an easy view of the forest valley from any point in the office.

The Lower level of the building consists of two independent studios attached to gardens and overhanging a double height amphitheater space. The forward walls of the studios can be mechanically lowered to form transparent floors. The roof of the building is a single south facing plane intended to mount solar panels on. A lower layer of the roof provides an air gap for hot air to run through and escape. On the RMP roof sheeting are also mounted fine water sprinklers which spray the roof intermittently to cool it during the summer months. It is thus able to do without any air-conditioning.

The fans of the office resemble the old punkahs but are electrically operated and offer a gentle sweeping breeze. The furniture is made of rubber wood tops and paddy board shutters, both ecologically quite sound and a great saving in costs. The office design is a humble attempt to respond to a desperate need for a green approach in all architecture and in it now are young generation of architects developing a sense of responsibility “to preserve the earth’s resources and natural wonders in it.”