From koi carp to small golden turtles — and everything in between — the Raha Pool Project reimagines the way we view our domestic spaces. Redesigned by Zacharias Murano Architects in partnership with Kishore & Co Architects, this nine-bedroom, 9,600-square-foot contemporary home offers a sanctuary for animals and a sanctuary for humans.
Realtor.com No one home stands out quite like the Raha Pool Project.
Designed by two of Europe’s most prominent architects, Rome-based Zacharias Murano and Munich-based Kishore & Co, the pool development features a pool surrounded by a 30-meter bridge that hangs from the side of a 200-foot-high building, which spans the Ems River and is exposed to the Atlantic Ocean. At the heart of the base is a master bedroom with a private terrace, and everything to do with the aquatic wildlife is kept in the house: a koi pond, saltwater pool, tile works made by Jumi Kayal and Manwë Mauro Lanzaro, daily swim-in stalls, and dedicated offices for project consultants. Not to mention, there’s an animal-care office for Leopoldo Vianna, a 33-year-old Raha himself.
The project was created by pet lover and founder of eco-therapy cooperative Nyi Raho Floris — the name means “Hello Bath” in Portuguese. He began as a student working on projects for local celebrities: Mario Batali, Eliza Dushku, Scarlett Johansson, to name a few. But as his projects grew, he also discovered that while designing the pool could be done simply with concrete and paint, there was also the necessity to design an environment more suitable for the animals he loved.
The swim-in stall is a master bedroom complete with a private terrace.
For such a large house, the designers kept the palette free of color, yet the hundreds of species of plants used are also the perfect complement to the collection of artwork in the home.
An artist’s workshop in the center of the house.
The designers reveal that unlike many developers, Raha is a no-veg project. “We decided we wanted to start by introducing creatures into the very blue water of the first pool in our project;” explains architect Pasquale Capecchi. The idea, he says, was to create an ecosystem for the aquatic residents of the house, while at the same time showing visitors a cleaner lifestyle. “We wanted to avoid over-consumption and create an environment that is better for the animals living around it,” adds Marcia Kiski.
Bar Bäsler bar and coolers.
More than just a place for animals, the Raha aims to push the limits in the art and natural-bio-entrepreneurial industries. Designers from an array of new-tech industry businesses got involved in helping produce the building, and throughout the project, projects about wild animals for children became part of the architecture. The indoor pool is dotted with art projects, music.
It was the views of the bay that enticed the designers.
Renowned Raha architect Mario “Chico” Chianti sat with interior designer Ana Costa, and together the two of them started thinking about the living and working spaces within the 6,900-square-foot pool area. It started with the wide balcony outside the bedroom at the top of the tower, whose view of the Atlantic Ocean was so stunning that Raha thought it would make a perfect space for a pool. There’s also a self-contained mini-studio with skylights for hobbyists, and a television that can record in HDR with up to 4.5K visuals.
Spanning the entire house, the main pool will be open year-round. But opening the hill side to the water inside — where there’s a massage bay, creative studio, and a minimalist and colourful painting studio — would give the pool a sustainable presence 365 days a year.