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Architects: Elsye Alam
- Area: 1700 m²
- Year: 2010
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Photographs:Elsye Alam
Text description provided by the architects. The frontage of the house is in a way antithetical to the surrounding neighborhood which mostly covering themselves with massive fences and guard booths. Alam Family Residence prefers sharing the front yard thru nearly transparent fence and pushes the privacy screen inward onto the facade which embraces the new found relationships between indoor/outdoor and public/private. The perforated concrete west-facing wall acts as breathing brise-soleil; prevents overheating on building skin while filtering the abstract graphical light qualities and transforming the space throughout the day and night.
An "E" shape plan effectively organizes the internal masses of the house creating two inner voids that brings light and air deep into the house through both plan and section. Extensive vertical glazing around the inner courtyards and generous use of skylights opt out the need for artificial lighting in the spaces including closet spaces during the day and yet creates constantly changing light conditions that activate the interior.
The interior of the house is a series of free-flowing, continuous spaces that fosters a supportive, interactive family lifestyle. The consistent minimal white palate in the common area gives visual dominance to the bold red prayer niche representing family's tradition in a modern way, the bold yellow aquarium which located in the heart of the dining-living areas, the dark wood 'rolling carpet' of the staircase, the abstracted Borneo jungle water wall with local natural stone, and the vertical garden in the courtyard.
