Think big: Small can be classy

Maria Endah Hulupi, Contributor/Jakarta

A small house on a small plot of land usually looks exactly that: cramped and restricted.

But it's not true in a tropical house in a housing complex in Tangerang, where architect Aaron Purbo transformed the plot into a home with a soothing view and enough space for further experimentation.

It took less six months to build the house and for the owner, Henry Suryadinata, to move in. Working together with the owner proved a relatively smooth process.

"We could work together very well. I only drew one sketch and the owner liked it and gave his approval to start," Aaron said.

The house's front walls, painted in rich terra-cotta and gray, are lightened by slim rectangular openings, while the wooden- striped entrance door strengthens the light tropical appearance. Privacy is retained in the interior while allowing those inside to gaze out unhindered onto the street.

Behind the striped wooden entrance door is a dining/living area with a view to the side garden.

"This area can be used as dining room or living area or just an outdoor sitting area so as to get a different ambience," said the architect, adding that visitors can be received outside as it is equipped with a simple, no frills bench consistent with the overall concept.

The simple, modern tropical house -- standing on an eight- meter by 21 meter plot, was designed so it has enough room for living quarters as well as landscape. In order to achieve the goal, the width of the land was simply divided into five-meter and a three-meter wide sections. The first is allocated for the house, the latter for the side garden, which delicately provides a tropical flair to the interior.

"The ground floor is slightly tucked in under the second story. The aim is to protect the interior of the ground floor from spatter during rainy days," Aaron explained.

To make sure that the home owner gets the optimal living space division, Aaron further divided the house's ground floor into three sections.

The front part is allocated for service area, such as a kitchen and a small shielded area to hang the laundry.

The kitchen is equipped with windows to allow a view to the street, while the openings in the upper part of the kitchen wall allow smoke and odors to escape from the interior.

In the center is the family/TV room and at the rear part is a bedroom and a bathroom. The staircase leads to the private areas on the second story, like bedrooms and the master bedroom.

Since the house and the garden sit next to each other, Aaron equipped the side of the house with huge glass swing doors. It inundates all parts of the house with fresh breeze, sunlight and a soothing view from the side garden.

"These huge doors allow an unobstructed view outside from the interior, which may trick you into thinking that the house is more spacious and sits on a larger plot of land," Aaron said.

Just like the house, the side garden is divided into three areas. The rear garden is relaxingly simple. There, yellow frangipani stand gracefully with loose coral stones covering the base, instead of grass which cannot grow in the area.

In the middle is a koi pond, adorned only with a pink lotus and papyrus plants along the side with neat steps leading to the dining/living room and the rear garden. The pond acts as an esthetic barrier that separate the public area of the house (being the dining room) to the dry garden in the rear.

The interior is adorned with modern furniture chosen to meet the owner's lifestyle but still in harmony with the simple, modern tropical design.

For the house, Aaron used low maintenance materials and mostly gray paint for the exterior and interior walls.

"I used mostly gray paint because it does not get dirty too easily. Besides, for an interior of a tropical house, the color gives off a cooling sensation," he said.

Some of the walls are left unpainted and the rough plastered- surfaces give the interior a textured look.

The project was done on a tight budget, and the unpainted walls and the use of no-frame glass doors were among the decisions taken to limit expenses.

Lighting in the interior was designed to illuminate the side garden.

While the interior lighting arrangement is mainly to meet functional purposes, for the side garden and the exterior of the house it is designed to highlight the house's esthetic features and create a desirable ambience during the evening.