A tropical art-filled home in Siolim

AV*ARC’s Varrun Motihar designs a colour-rich triplex in Goa

13 May 2026

Tucked within a gated community in Siolim, North Goa, a 1,800 sq ft triplex trusts the landscape to do its part. Interiors designed by Varrun Motihar, partner at AV* ARC, are built on the conviction that a tropical, biophilic setting does not need to be tamed but trusted.

The home spans three floors peppered with mid-century modern furniture, which brings in the right counterpoint of grounded and a quietly purposeful warmth. The ground level holds a lobby, a double-height living room, a dining area, and an open-plan kitchen. The first floor accommodates the primary bedroom and bathroom, a mezzanine study, and a guest suite. The top floor opens out to a partially canopied terrace garden with an outdoor kitchen counter in black Kadappa and green Baroda marble.

“Ceramic tiles weather better than alternative finishes in tropical coastal areas; they are also notably softer on the feet, which matters in a home where shoes are left at the door”

Varrun Motihar

The mezzanine study on the first floor overlooks the double-height living room below. In-house designed furniture is accompanied by atmospheric landscape paintings by Belinder Dhanoa against a mustard yellow accent wall; Photography by Suhani Patel

THE FIRST REVEAL

Before the living room gives itself away, the lobby asks you to pause. A pivoting teak wood veneered panel greets you at the lobby, one face housing the television and sound system, the other serving as an art wall and console. The panel acts as a full privacy screen, separating the lobby from the living room, until you move past it, and the double-height ceiling and floor-to-ceiling glass walls announce themselves in full.

A FLOOR LIKE STILL WATER

The living room is where the inside-out ambition of the home is most legible. Murky green glossy ceramic tiles sweep the floor in three finishes: a glossy main field, a digitally patterned matt border, and a plain matt skirting tile. Designed to evoke the shifting surface of a pond. “The living room with its high ceilings and window line is where the inside-out connection is most apparent,” Varrun explains.

“Getting the right balance of materials and furniture was critical here.” Mid-century modern sofas, armchairs, and a coffee table were designed and built in-house by AV*ARC; a Sotohaus console by the window and Bo Concept cushions and throws bring in considered, tactile detail.

“Ceramic tiles weather better than alternative finishes in tropical coastal areas; they are also notably softer on the feet, which matters in a home where shoes are left at the door,” details Varrun.

The pivoting teak wood veneered media unit anchors the lobby, carrying charcoal sketches by Sajid Bin Amar of the Hyderabad School and a carved wooden bull’s head sourced from Tamil Nadu; Photography by Suhani Patel

The second-floor terrace, partially shaded by a canopy, faces Siolim’s palm canopy and the hills beyond. Recliner chairs, a drum side table and planters of bromeliads make for an unhurried outdoor retreat; Photography by Suhani Patel

COLOUR AS STRUCTURE

The dining area beneath the skeletal white staircase is the home’s most colour-saturated moment. A mustard yellow rear wall is flanked by a freestanding structural column clad in asymmetrically laid ceramic mosaics in shades of yellow, cream, and ochre; a detail Motihar describes as a jewellery-like element for the interior. Works by Shatrugan Thakur of the Baroda School, vegetable dye on khadi, preside over the staircase wall, and a portrait of the family’s cat by Armenia-based Goa-resident artist Ronny Frost watches from across the room. A locally sourced matti hardwood half-wall divides the kitchen from the dining zone.

ROOMS THAT BREATHE

The first floor is quieter. The primary bedroom draws its palette from textured beige stone tile floors, walnut wood furniture built in-house, and deep tones of forest green and burnt yellow. A botanical-print headboard in imported fabric from Seasons, Gurgaon, and walnut bamboo blinds give the room understated warmth. The mezzanine study, suspended above the living room, holds in-house-designed furniture beneath a gallery of atmospheric landscape paintings. In the guest bedroom, the painting above the bed was made by the client herself.

The top-floor terrace, partially shaded by a canopy and ringed by bromeliads and local flora sourced from Mapusa market, closes the loop on the home’s intent. The outdoor kitchen counter in black Kadappa and green Baroda marble makes it a usable, daily extension of the home rather than a view held in reserve. In Siolim, this is a home that holds its collector’s instincts and its tropical surroundings with equal ease.

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