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This article explores how The Chapter is rethinking residential living in North Goa through an interview with Arjun Malhotra, Vice President of Business Growth & Strategy. The piece looks at how the company approaches architecture, spatial planning, technology, and day-to-day operations to balance privacy, community, and long-term livability. Focusing on projects in Moira, Aldona, and Sircaim, the article outlines how The Chapter studies local landscapes, climate, and patterns of everyday life to shape homes that work equally well as primary residences, second homes, or investments.
Goa’s real estate landscape has shifted significantly over the last decade, shaped by long-term residents, second-home buyers, and people relocating for extended periods. This change has altered what buyers expect from housing in the state, pushing developers to think beyond individual villas and toward the idea of neighbourhoods that can support everyday living.
The Chapter operates within this context, developing gated residential communities across North Goa that combine private homes with shared infrastructure and services. Through projects in Moira, Aldona, and Sircaim, the company has focused on how architecture, spatial planning, and operations come together to shape daily life. Speaking about the thinking behind these developments, Arjun Malhotra, Vice President of Business Growth & Strategy at The Chapter, reflects on how the company approaches space, community, and the idea of home in Goa.
For The Chapter, the process of designing a neighbourhood begins with studying how people occupy space across different moments of the day and year. The team looks at patterns of movement, retreat, and gathering, and how climate shapes daily routines, using these observations to inform planning decisions at a community level. “When we imagine a new Chapter neighbourhood, we are rethinking what ‘home’ can be beyond walls or conventional notions of luxury,” Arjun explains. That thinking draws directly from Goa’s built environment, where, as he notes, “its layered landscapes, Portuguese-influenced architecture, and homes that extend into the land through verandas and gardens demonstrate how indoor and outdoor spaces can merge seamlessly into everyday life.”
As The Chapter’s communities evolved, the balance between privacy and shared life became a guiding design concern. The team focused on establishing clear spatial hierarchies early on, using layout, orientation, and thresholds to distinguish private homes from semi-private edges and shared areas. Across projects, this has meant making specific adjustments — from rethinking sightlines and reducing density to reshaping communal zones — so that both retreat and connection feel intentional. "What we’ve learned is that community can’t be forced, and privacy can’t be compromised," shares Arjun. "When both are respected at a foundational level, the neighbourhood evolves organically—people engage when they want to, retreat when they need to, and feel a deeper sense of ownership and belonging as a result."
The Chapter' design template system emerged from an early need to bring order to Goa’s fragmented villa landscape. Beginning with Volume 001 in Moira, the team developed a framework rooted in local architectural references like courtyards, natural materials, and indoor–outdoor flow, so that homes would relate to one another as part of a larger neighbourhood. This structure also shaped how buyers engaged with design.
Because many homeowners use their villas as second homes, day-to-day operations became a critical part of how The Chapter’s communities function. Over time, small but recurring issues and infrastructure disruptions, such as water supply problems, often affected entire neighbourhoods at once, pushing the team to think beyond one-off fixes. This shift led to closer coordination with local authorities, real-time communication with residents, and a stronger emphasis on neighbourhood-wide planning. The experience reshaped internal systems, reinforcing the need for preventive maintenance and collective oversight so homeowners could remain confident about their homes even when they were away.
As The Chapter’s communities began to include residents across different ages and life stages, the focus shifted toward creating conditions that allow people to mix without being steered, by shaping spaces that feel open and accommodating over time. “Building a community that spans ages and life stages isn’t about enforcing sameness; it’s about creating a framework where shared values emerge naturally.” Design choices, circulation, and shared amenities are planned to support casual, low-pressure interaction, allowing relationships to form through repeated everyday encounters.
When it comes to site selection, The Chapter begins with reading how a place already functions before imagining what it could become. “We search for subtle signals that indicate a place has potential to grow into a vibrant, connected neighbourhood — things like existing patterns of social life, natural gathering points, the rhythm of daily life, and the way landscapes and built structures interact,” Arjun explains. Each site is planned with attention to local ecology and architecture, with design decisions shaped to sit alongside established ways of living.
For many buyers, a home in Goa carries more than one expectation, and The Chapter plans for that. Villas are designed to function smoothly whether they are lived in full-time, used periodically, or rented out, with attention to layouts, durability, and operational ease. This dual lens influences how homes are built and supported over time, without changing how they feel to live in. As Arjun puts it, “Buying a home in Goa today often comes with dual motivations: a personal retreat and a long-term investment.” Accounting for both has shaped everything from maintenance systems to community-level services, ensuring consistency regardless of occupancy.
“Our approach ensures that the home delivers both emotional and financial value over time,” he says. Taken together with its design framework and operational model, this thinking reflects how The Chapter approaches housing as an ongoing practice, shaped by use, care, and everyday life within the neighbourhood.
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