This coastal holiday house and swimming pool by Mumbai practice WE Design Studio is positioned over a stone retaining wall in the hilly landscape of Alibaug, India (+ slideshow).

Accommodating a family of four, the single-storey residence has a rectilinear plan orientated to face a view of the Arabian Sea to the west.

A glazed wall stretches across the sea-facing facade, offering a panoramic view from the living room and two bedrooms positioned alongside. The panels slide open to lead out to the swimming pool and surrounding terrace.

WE Design Studio constructed the walls of the house from brick and they are coated in lime plaster to give a uniform colour.

"The brief was to build a compact house for a family of four, which is easy to manage and maintain," architects Nupur Shah and Saahil Parikh told Dezeen. "We were given a very moderate budget to work with and the construction and material choices have been largely influenced by it."

The pale-coloured exterior contrasts with the dark grey tones of the basalt stone retaining walls that surround the building. These walls lift the house up from the steeply sloping hillside in front, but also support an access road at the rear.

Flooring inside the house displays the same texture as the surface of the terrace outside, finished in a locally sourced limestone called Shahabad.

Other houses featured on Dezeen from India include a residence with a scooping concrete roof and a house with a rooftop swimming pool on stilts. See more architecture in India.

Photography is by Ira Gosalia.

Here are a few words from WE Design Studio:

House in Alibaug, India

This 3500 square foot single family house is located on a two acre hill in Kashid, Alibaug. The house comprises two intersecting monolithic volumes that are oriented to maximize a spectacular panoramic view of the Arabian Sea.

Two stone retaining walls made of locally available basalt wrap around the front and rear of the house. The articulation of spaces is governed by the different ways in which these volumes interact with the stone walls.

The pool and deck seamlessly integrate interior with the surrounding landscape, establishing a strong sense of continuity. The house is a result of a continuous negotiation between topography, programmatic requirements and economy.