'Magic hands' create modern, tranquil home

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The house is located on busy Jl. Cipete Raya, South Jakarta, but the owners, a young couple, want to escape the hustle and bustle of the street.

To ensure privacy and peace, the owners, who declined to be named, gave the job to architect Andra Matin, whose name has been well-known ever since he designed the Aksara bookstore and Gedung 28, both located in Kemang, South Jakarta.

The magic hands of Andra managed to blend urban modernity and rural tranquility in this modern tropical home.

A gateway leads to the garage, the rooftop patio and a slopping lawn planted with some trees in front of the 460-square- meter house.

"The sloping lawn gives the house a feeling of tranquility. It is a sort of natural barrier, shielding the house from the bustling and noisy street," Andra explained.

The house, which was completed in February, 2002, was also designed so as to blur the borders between the interior and exterior.

Andra used simple materials like timber (also for the external screens), glass, Palimanan stone from Sukabumi in West Java and gravel. The main reason for using these materials was to fulfill the owners' wish to have a simple yet sophisticated home instead of a luxurious one. More expensive materials like parquet are only used for the second story floor.

Guests entering the house from the terrace pass through the foyer where they can enjoy the soothing view of a reflecting pool that enhances the serenity of the interior.

The house has a guest room (equipped with a small, dry garden), living room, an audio-visual room, study, pantry, kitchen, dining room, several service areas and a room for the driver near the garage.

Since the owners have different interests -- the husband prefers to spend time in the audio-visual room or read books in the study while the wife loves to soak up the quietness in the family room -- Andra came up with a practical solution to accommodate their preferences.

"I simply installed a sliding door that can connect or separate the family room from the audio-visual room and study. When it is open, they can communicate easily," he said.

Andra also designed a huge swing wall to seclude the guest room from the remaining part of the house in order to give privacy to both parties. When the swing hall is left open, the guests and owners are able to enjoy an unhampered view straight across to the swimming pool at the rear of the house.

"It (the swing wall) was a delicate job. It required accurate calculation for the structure and, of course, the owners' trust to build it," he said.

The pantry, dining room and the living room look out onto the swimming pool, separated only by sliding glass doors.

The 1.2-meter-deep pool, stretching the length of the dining and living rooms, is lined with greenish Palimanan stone to radiate a relaxing tropical ambience. Right next to the pool is a shower area and a changing room for swimmers.

The bare brick wall that separates the house from the neighbors has been left in its original state and is enhanced by two lighting fixtures that place a rustic accent on the clean lines of the modern house.

The house's second story contains the master bedroom (with a walk-in closet and an en suite bathroom), two bedrooms, also with en suite bathrooms, two servants' rooms, and a washing area.

"There is also a small pantry equipped with a refrigerator, a microwave and a sink where simple meals or late evening snacks can be prepared, or where essential items can be stored, like baby food, for example," he said.

Andra also added skylights from which sunlight can penetrate through to the living room and the hall.

"The skylights ensure a more even sunlight exposure. The downward slanting sunlight and the light from the sides of the house and the shadows they create give rise to a unique (interior) ambience," he explained.

For the lighting, Andra used halogen and neon lights with a focus on providing "warm" light from indirect lighting.

"We wanted to ensure proper illumination without the source of the light being obvious," he added. The lighting spots, he said, were reduced from the planned 60 to around 30 to reduce costs.

The huge garden, Andra said, was planted with grass and several large-leaved trees so as to ensure low cost maintenance.

"There is a beautiful kamboja (frangipani) tree that has been retained since the couple bought the house as it grows in a strategic spot and can be seen from the stairway inside the house," he said, adding that he avoids chopping down mature trees as they are naturally beautiful and require years to attain their full height.

Andra said he added lighting to embellish the frangipani tree and turn it into a natural ornament during the evening so that when viewed from the stairway, people can still see the tree's luscious dark green leaves and its exotic flowers.