Form and function in a home at one with nature

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It's a tough criteria to meet: build a naturalistic, kampong- style home that is environmentally friendly and fulfills a modern family's needs.

It was the dream of Anang Rizkani Noor and wife Muthia Hani, a young couple with three children, who worked with architect Adi Purnomo to build a new home on their 900-square-meter plot of land in Ciganjur, South Jakarta.

"We only gave input to Adi about the house we would like to have and agreed not to interfere with his design," said Hanny, who wished to raise her children in the neighborhood because of its mixed ethnic, socioeconomic and religious composition.

Adi created a home with a living room, six bedrooms, three bathrooms, service area, den, an outdoor dining room, a kitchen and three terraces. The total budget was about Rp 450 million.

"We could keep a cap on the costs without sacrificing the functions needed by the family," Adi said, adding that most rooms were designed so they could serve different functions.

An energy conserving house, he said it was designed to solve climate problems, like heat and humidity, improve air circulation, allow better sunlight penetration into the house but also allow privacy.

Adi used natural materials, like stone, mostly damar laut wood for window frames, terrace and roof, with the cement walls left exposed.

"The only expensive material was the glass for the windows, and we also avoided unnatural finishings, including paint," said the member of the Indonesian Young Architects (AMI) organization.

To provide unobstructed views to the outside, there are large windows in the open plan but with an extended side roof over the living areas to prevent rain from falling inside or too much sunlight streaming in.

"For the interior, the walls were designed to help optimally define the spaces in a fluid arrangement so people can access each room easily," Adi said.

The interior is integrated with the space in the exterior, like the outdoor dining room and the den at the rear of the house, through a one-level connecting plane.

Since Hani loves to cook, the kitchen is specially positioned at the "center" of the house. "From the kitchen, they can have an unhampered view to the garden and the side terrace," Adi said.

Due to the open design, from the kitchen and in other parts of the house, the family can enjoy the cool air, the pleasant view and the sound of rippling water from one of its three small lotus ponds, located in different areas of the house, including in front of the kitchen and near the sitting area on the side terrace.

"And since most rooms can accommodate different functions, family members can have their meals either in the kitchen, the dining room or even at the side terrace," he added.

For the family's growing children, the outdoor multipurpose den-cum-musholla (prayer room), equipped with a book shelf on one side and a wooden stage on the other, was set up at the rear of the house.

"There they can read, study, recite the Koran or just play," Adi explained.

To reduce penetration of the sun's rays, Adi used the novel idea of planting a small patch of grass to cover the roof over the main entrance.

Existing trees and plants were retained in the yard but Hani, a keen gardener, also planted mango and guava trees in the garden as well as rambling plants, such as betel nut, bougainvillea and dollar plants, to cover the fence walls.

"I think the house will look even better in a few years' time after the (rambling) plants have fully covered the walls," Hani said.