Nature's way far enough from the madding crowd

Maria Endah Hulupi, Contributor/Jakarta

=============================================================== STANDFIRST: Living in the crowded capital amid spiraling concrete edifices makes all of us yearn to return to the leafy embrace of nature. The design of this home in an exclusive North Jakarta housing complex shows that such a wish can come true. =============================================================

A home as well as a sanctuary are the two qualities of this tropical house.

In contrast to the ostentatious mansions surrounding it, the house has eye-pleasing, soul-revitalizing features within the down-to-earth facade. Apart from a small front garden, a terrace and an entrance door at the front, a sizable part of the area is allocated for a two-car garage.

But the main feature of the house is not in the front space but hidden right behind the front door.

Standing on 500 square meters of a fan-shaped plot of land near the sea, the house's front door opens up to a courtyard, the center of the home. The soothing feature gives the owners, a young couple with children, extraordinary luxury of living in a natural oasis.

The house only covers around 50 percent of the land, with the rest set aside for the courtyard and the rear garden -- an arrangement that takes into account the existing but often overlooked regulation allocating desired land and building composition.

The design is in harmony with the owner's wish to return each day to a home close to nature in a cozy, resort-like home.

Large windows provide views into the courtyard and the garden from the terrace. The owners can also enjoy the morning light and the fresh sea breeze from a deck on the second story.

"(In my opinion), it is advisable that houses in tropical countries like Indonesia are designed with gardens and terraces to allow the owners to enjoy the space to the fullest," said the architect, Sonny Sutanto.

"But the most important thing is that the house (design) should be suitable with the climate."

Since the owners' everyday activities center around the courtyard, there is access to it from every part of the house. The flow is arranged to actively connect one room with another from both the interior and exterior.

A conscious decision was made so that no single room/feature is "inactive", as in the case of many, difficult-to-access upper terraces.

The interior was furnished mostly with specially designed items like modern furniture and elegant door handles.

Sonny also designed the interior with a double-height ceiling, which together with the huge windows help give a sense of space through the views to the outside. The design allows those in the front part of the house to see straight to the rear garden, and the courtyard can be viewed from every part of the house.

"The clients said the house works for them because their children can play freely around the house and still be easily monitored," the architect said.

The upper story can be accessed either through the external or the interior staircases. The aim of having two entry points was to provide a playful design, as well as allowing the owners to better enjoy the space outside.

For the architect, every project is unique but he always leaves his signature on each design. In this home, it is in the form of his signature railing and fence.

Sonny also designed curvy shapes for various details in parts of the house. The shape was chosen to depict the sail of a ship because sailing is the owner's favorite activity.

"The curves of the sail fits nicely with the house's overall design and location," he said.

For the external wall, the architect used batu susun sirih (stone arranged in a pile), which was popular in the late 1950s, and for the courtyard floor, he used batu motif acak (limestone flooring with irregular patterns) from Yogyakarta. Both elements give off an attractive textured effect.

To foster a tranquil atmosphere in the evening, lighting was arranged to illuminate the courtyard as the center point, and highlight frangipanis as the main decorative elements in the landscape. In the interior, the architect used mainly indirect light and a spotlight on certain tables.

Since the house is exposed to strong sea winds, flat and synthetic roofing was chosen to protect the house from damp.

"We did not use a traditional roof because it allows moisture laden wind to penetrate inside, which in turn causes damp-related damage," he said.

Other materials for the home were also carefully chosen because the humid coastal area is conducive to corrosion. The architect used bangkirai timber for the exterior, with the surrounding iron fence given an anticorrosive coating.