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The client’s wish was a modest house with a big garden and swimming pool for his family of four and pet dogs. In response, Budi Lim extended the garden by stitching the site to its neighbouring golf course and elevated the experience by raising the bedrooms seven metres above existing ground level.
This project is an experience of balance, movement, and interaction with nature. In a satellite city outside Jakarta, the small family live in a sequence of lantern-like pavilions perched atop a raised garden with terracing lotus and lily ponds. The rooms are minimal, so crafting the sense of extended space was key. The floors are suspended, the walls are screens, the pool is a natural pond, and a forest creates a cool micro-climate. It is an attempt at creating meaningful tropical luxury.
The concept is about contrast and extended spaces. The building slopes up as the land descends. A seven-stepped pond leads to the summit – a garden square among the three bedroom-pavilions. A gridded terracing forest beside the pond creates a vertical scale to balance the horizontal aquascapes. The roof garden forms a cavernous veranda over the living dining spaces beneath that are on floating platforms from which to view the vast greenery in the shade.
There is no ‘front door’, but an entry experience, lined with Jacaranda trees, spanning 110m straight from the front gate. At 40m, a North-Southbound wall anchors the building, framing a vista of the golfing grounds, while establishing compositional order and balance between solid and void, terrain and scenery, and public and private spaces.
The elevated massing reduces land coverage to encourage surface runoff into the soil. This is key as the country primarily uses ground water due to inadequate public water infrastructure. The wetland pond along the front acts as security deterrence and water catchment filtering the home’s wastewater after it passes a series of bio-porous ground filters, before returning to the public drain. The stepped aquascapes are bio-filtered lotus and lily ponds that share one pumping system. The swimming pool water is supplied by the eco-balanced natural pond beside it which then acts as the balancing tank. Only the bedrooms have AC, external clay tiles otherwise act as solar screens. The dining room parquet are made of local naturally cured Teakwood, and outdoor carpentry made of reclaimed Ironwood.
The house celebrates Indonesian craft. The contemporary and traditional intertwine to express modern tropical living on a large site in the semi-urban context. The first challenge was to flip excessive designs typical of luxury living in Indonesia, and the second was to facilitate a healthy lifestyle for the client. With few constraints, the freedom was channelled into sequencing the open spaces to enjoy every square-meter possible. Meanwhile, the low occupancy necessitates a cosy feel. The enclosed rooms were kept small accompanied by various shared spaces open to nature. The bedroom-pavilions are minimal but have an open plan contained within glass walls to create a sense of extended space. The dramatic scale appropriate to the site was created by mirroring the ground contour in elevating the pavilions. The extended spaces are enjoyed across varying planes. Traditional local craft are underappreciated in Indonesia. BLA took the opportunity to collaborate with various craftsmen to create unique pieces with architectural functions that add a local identity to key spaces. BLA designed four compositions for the clay lattices, which was assembled by an artist working with the village the tiles were made in. The rattan weaving pattern was digitally designed by BYO Living then handmade into openable ceiling panels for easy maintenance. OCK designed three key lighting pieces, one using traditional metal weave for a ‘Jambu’-shape pendant to echo the fruit trees kept in the garden.
The design makes the unique location work. I can enjoy the immersive proximity to nature because of the golf course next door, but I also have a panoramic view of the distant city skyline from the elevated bedrooms. Our habits have changed, we now stay outside when it rains because the sensation commands your attention. The small shifts in weather and seasons make living here relaxing, such as harvesting the fruit trees. Simple moments like a cigarette by the pavilion steps become luxurious.
Budi Lim Architects is a boutique architectural studio with a diverse award-winning portfolio spanning eight countries. Since its founding in 1985, our work covers different programmes and scales from sculptures and furniture to masterplans, urban planning, corporate identity, retail, retrofits, churches, restaurants, and houses.
The practice has a strong ethos for the ‘correct and good’. It perpetuates through the design process to craft healthy spaces and meaningful experiences. Our explorative design process has grown our wide network of collaborators, particularly supporting local craft, art and natural materials.
Founder Budi Lim is a practitioner with over 40 years of experience and is a registered architect in the UK and Indonesia. Accolades include the UNESCO Conservation 2001 Award of Excellence, and the 2014 Honourable Mention. Notable buildings include the Indonesia Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010, which was one of the most visited pavilions.
