An unobstructed view in an elite estate

An unobstructed view in an elite estate

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Passing through the Pondok Indah area in South Jakarta, one can quickly see the social status of the home owners. Most of the houses are luxurious and modern.

But a two-story house in one of the most elite residential areas in the capital looks very down-to-earth yet modern-looking.

Architect Irianto Purnomo Hadi made sure that the house would capture the beautiful unobstructed east side view of the surrounding area, offering a less hectic face of crowded Jakarta.

"It's a 600-square-meter plot of land but when you sit in the family room and look out at the extensive view outside, you'll have the feeling that the house stands on six hectares of land," he said, describing the effect of the surroundings.

The house is 1.5 meters higher than the road level. It is taken up to create a split-level section and the architect also created a twirling ramp entrance as an alternative to the main entrance at the side of the car porch. The concrete twirling ramp entrance is softened by adding a little green papyrus plant in a huge terra-cotta pot.

"The ramp entrance also serves as a sort of 'decompression' area as it helps untangle people's mind from the hectic activities and traffic in the capital as they walk inside the house," Irianto explained.

The house consists of four bedrooms, a family room and a sitting room, a dining room, a pantry and a huge garage which can accommodate the owner's four cars.

The family and sitting rooms are equipped with large glass doors to give an optimum view from the east side, which, the architect said, also helped him determine the positions of both rooms.

Irianto used a lot of huge openings in different parts of the house to accommodate the owners's fondness for a kampong-styled home and its idyllic atmosphere.

"These openings help the owners to get optimal ventilation inside the house and they can also enjoy the breeze without having to install air conditioners," he said.

He also chose various earthy hues and used them for the interior, like orange (for the upholstery), green (from indoor plants) and other earthy tones (from the wooden frames and terra-cotta ornaments).

Apart from radiating tropical warmth, the house's interior elements were planned and arranged to provide the owners with the feeling that they blend with and become part of the outdoor view.

"The furniture and the colors for the interior elements were specially chosen and designed to meet that objective," said the architect, who is also one of the founders of Arsitek Muda Indonesia (the Young Indonesian Architects, better known as AMI).

Irianto also keeps the living room, the terrace and the green grass in the garden smoothly spread in a continuous leveled area to create an impression that these rooms are "united".

The main staircase is positioned at the center of the house and is partitioned to the living and sitting rooms by an exposed concrete wall. The latter was also designed in such a way to provide the surrounding rooms with a sort of "anchor".

The staircase is crowned with a skylight to enable optimal natural light to penetrate the area. And just like the staircase, the house in general also receives plenty of sunlight during the day as it can penetrate through the big glass doors and windows.

For the lighting, Irianto ensured proper illumination by using indirect lighting that radiates from the sides of the ceilings, floor lamps and table lamps.

"This helps the ceilings remain uncluttered and clean," he said.