Bagan Villa
Project type
Architecture, Interior design, Furniture design and Construction
Design Team
Aadesh Raj Sharma, Deepa Gurung
Project Manager
Nischal Parajuli, Prabal Batajoo
When clients hand over a home with half a century of history, the challenge isn’t just about making it look new it’s about revealing its character in a modern context. Our recent renovation project was exactly that: a dated, more than 50-year-old brick cottage that was structurally sound but felt visually heavy, weighed down by years of monolithic red brick and overgrown landscaping. Here is how we took this historic structure and reimagined it into a clean, sophisticated architectural statement.
The original building featured a continuous red brick finish. While charming in its day, it lacked contrast and made the façade feel flat and dark. Instead of tearing it down or plastering it over which would erase the home's tangible history, we chose to paint the brick a crisp, bright white. This immediately opened up the elevation and allowed the natural, imperfect texture of the old masonry to catch the light beautifully. To keep the façade from looking too stark, we introduced targeted sand-mustard panels around the windows, creating a deliberate geometric contrast that frames the historic openings.
The original building featured a continuous red brick finish. While charming in its day, it lacked contrast and made the facade feel flat and dark. Instead of tearing it down or plastering it over which would erase the home's tangible history we chose to paint the brick a crisp, bright white. This immediately opened up the elevation and allowed the natural, imperfect texture of the old masonry to catch the light beautifully. To keep the facade from looking too stark, we introduced targeted sand-mustard panels around the windows, creating a deliberate geometric contrast that frames the historic openings.
One of the most dramatic shifts in this project happened right where the walls meet the sky. The old roofline had a raw, weathered edge that aged the property prematurely. We decided to wrap the entire soffit (the underside of the roof overhang) in a rich, polished wood-panel finish. By embedding warm, recessed spotlights into this timber ceiling, we turned a purely functional element into a major design feature. At night, it casts a soft glow down the white brick walls; during the day, it adds a high-end, mid-century warmth that perfectly balances the crispness of the white facade
As architects, sometimes our most important job is knowing what to take away. The old facade was buried under messy, unguided climbing vines. While we love greenery, it was hiding the house rather than helping it. By clearing the overgrown plants, we gave the building room to breathe. We then accented the newly cleaned lines with sleek, minimalist black exterior lamps, creating sharp focal points against the white and mustard backdrop. The final result proves that you don't need a bulldozer to achieve a modern luxury aesthetic. By respecting the original geometry and focusing on light, texture, and smart material contrasts, we were able to honor the home’s 50-year legacy while firmly planting it in the modern era.