Architects: Parametr Indonesia
Location: Depok, Indonesia
Project Year: 2011
Project Area: 163 m2
Photographs: Sispriyadi Budiyarso
This renovation project is a typical common house which is located in a housing neighborhood in Cinere, Depok Indonesia. As a common description, housing in Indonesia almost has the homogenous typology in various site dimensions. The homogenous typology here is a typology that has the tendency to maximize the space requirements, forgetting the room qualities in a tropical climate condition where natural lighting and ventilation are necessary.
The existing house condition has two floors, with the second floor using a reinforced concrete composite construction, wooden boards, and some steel girder. The client wanted a house that included one master bedroom with attached bathroom, two children’s bedrooms, and a living room. The client also wanted a dominant living room, which would become the center of family interaction.
Design strategy
We explored the design possibilities within the limits of space requirements, budget concerns, and existing conditions. Eventually the duplex concept emerge as a main concept with the consideration that the wooden board structure on the second floor be cut in half and used as a framework for a concrete cast, cutting the expense for the formwork. By cutting half the wooden plate flooring, we created a high ceiling, making the perfect space for the large living room. The living room became a central point of the house, having direct contact with downstairs and upstairs rooms. Then the more private rooms are placed in the outer perimeter, with views looking out over the street.
The most interesting part of the whole concept was dissolving boundaries between outer and inner space or the interior with the garden/deck. In response to this concern we created a cage which lets the sunlight and wind flow freely, yet limits the incoming rainwater in the deck area, making the area useful for many activities in various weather condition.
Recycled material
The usage of recycled material obtained from the existing house helped reduce the construction cost. Besides using wooden floor plate as a framework, we reuse a WF steel girder as a roof beam structure support, attached in such a way it framed the living room. We used wooden window frames and iron trellis for stair steps and as the shadow making element on the cage construction, stacked artistically and painted white to strengthen the architecture character of this house.
Room within a room
The sense of spaciousness in this house is balanced with accentuated elements, forming a room within a room. A little orange cage is attached to the steel structure. Aside from functioning as a reading space, this pod also strengthens the room within room concept, just as the popped box of the master bedroom functions as a workroom.
