A home like Sunday

In Gorakhpur, W5 Architects built a farmhouse on a mango-teak orchard

05 Feb 2026

Its evident when an architect loves a place as much as the idea of building on it. The Gorakhpur farmhouse by Prakhar Ranjan of W5 Architects wears that affection lightly. Spread across 3,275 sq ft and hemmed in by a 20-year-old mango-teak orchard, this home negotiates with the land it’s built on. Every existing tree is left intact, shaping the plan rather than being shaped by it. This is a home that feels grown into place, an organic extension of its surroundings. Exposed red brick walls form the skeletal framework, left unclad, while double-height volumes allow light and air to move freely. There’s a deliberate slowness here: the kind that comes from letting wind decide circulation paths and daylight dictate the rhythm of a day.

Each brick comes from a local kiln and carries the weight of where it’s from. Teakwood salvaged from the orchard has been reincarnated as doors, windows and furniture, hinting towards a sustainable practice. Inverted terracotta tiles line the ceilings, a nod to Gorakhpur’s vernacular craft while also reducing concrete and adding a warm, earthen tactility overhead. The home’s masonry was led by local women artisans, an almost understated detail that deepens the narrative of making. Outside, exposed brick facades rise from a simple green lawn, while stone cut-offs find second lives in amphitheatre walls and wood scraps reappear as wall-mounted artworks.

“Thematically, the project celebrates ideas of slowness, craftsmanship and porosity. Light and air are central to the experience of the home”

- Prakhar Ranjan, Principal Architect, W5 Architects

Solid wood dining table set against exposed brick walls with cane chairs and a full-height window opening to the courtyard; Photography by Atik Bheda

Courtyards and small revelations

Moving through the home is a series of gentle discoveries. An exterior bar spills towards a lily pool, while a circular window offers a teasing glimpse into the courtyard beyond. The dining area anchors itself around a raw teak trunk table paired with cane-stitched seating. At the heart of the house, an “undesigned” courtyard emerges, formed by untouched tree trunks and their canopy overhead. Brick walls on one side, glass on the other, it feels outward-looking despite being enclosed. Grass grows freely underfoot, and a staircase rises alongside, leading you deeper into the home’s design. “Thematically, the project celebrates ideas of slowness, craftsmanship and porosity. Light and air are central to the experience of the home,” mentions Prakhar Ranjan.

Double-height living space with exposed brick walls a patterned brick feature and leather seating opening to the courtyard; Photography by Atik Bheda

Brick by brick, memory by memory

Upstairs, the mood shifts inward. Bedrooms are wrapped in layered browns: wood-framed windows, matching furniture, and abstract art that doesn’t shout for attention. The space cocoons without closing in. In the bathroom, a square tub sits like a plunge pool carved from stone, paired with a shower laid in rough stone flooring. Sunlight filters through foliage outside, blurring the line between indoors and out, creating an outdoor shower fantasy, minus the insects.

Bedroom with exposed brick wall timber door soft drapery and balcony opening to trees; Photography by Atik Bheda

There’s something distinctly studio-like about the way the house unfolds. It feels suited to an artist’s life. Light and shadow sketch ephemeral patterns across brick and floor, much like charcoal marks that never quite commit to a final line. It’s designed the way ideas are born: slowly, intuitively and always conversing with what already exists. This home never insists on being complete; instead, it leaves room for ideas to take shape, dissolve and return.