Being up on the hill with its jungle like setting the temperatures are a little cooler than the city. Hence the design priority was to preserve its natural surroundings and take advantage of the cool breeze that permeate its surroundings.
The client was a middle-aged expatriate bachelor but wanted a house that could be both his “man-cave” and eventually a home when he settles down. He is also a prolific writer and has deep interest in Malaysian post-war history and is an avid antique collector.
This then led to the idea of a hideaway in the city, a house that was sheltered in privacy that allows for contemplation yet engaged with its tropical environment. The idea of shelter from the searing heat and tropical storms developed from the simple metaphorical refuge to a complex study of how the roof would dominate, surround and protect its inhabitants like how a mother cuddles its child.
Various studies were done on the planning requirements to meet the clients brief and combining it with the organic roof form that encompasses the house protecting it from the Eastern and Western sun whilst keeping the views out to the garden and the city.
As the access of the house from the top of the slope, the house cascaded down with the slope over 3 levels down. At the road level the house appeared as driveway that led to the carporch and the house dramatically ‘disappears’ down the slope. The act of descending down the slope became the narrative of the journey in which spaces started to unravel whilst always engaging with the Nyatoh timber lined roof above. The roof became the canopy that shielded the structured spaces below interacting with the surroundings and topography. In the same way a tree’s canopy freely spreads out seeking the sun above its structured trunk, the roof canopy was designed to create shelter from the sun and rain extending its span almost touching the earth below. All the internal spaces looked up towards the sheltering canopy from the bedrooms, bathrooms and living spaces. The house was no longer defined by the internal programmatic spaces but by the sheltering canopy. The structural I-beams supporting the timber lined canopy were revealed much like the structure of a leaf with the midrib branching out to veins that supports the epidermis.
Below the canopy, all spaces were designed to be completely open when required to the elements to absorb the cool breezes flowing up the hills with the central located pool acting as a natural evaporative cooler and backdrop. The floating roof canopy allowed the idea of glazed or open spaces above to allow for light and ventilation to freely flow in. The steel staircase and glassed lift with voids allowed for connectivity with the roof even at the lower levels of the house.
Internal furnishing of antique from the owner’s collection complimented the deliberate weathered rusted roof structure above. Vivid colours were used to frame a poster of Suzie Wong in the bedroom wall and antique doors opened up to secret spaces within the house.
Being up on the hill with its jungle like setting the temperatures are a little cooler than the city. Hence the design priority was to preserve its natural surroundings and take advantage of the cool breeze that permeate its surroundings.
The client was a middle-aged expatriate bachelor but wanted a house that could be both his “man-cave” and eventually a home when he settles down. He is also a prolific writer and has deep interest in Malaysian post-war history and is an avid antique collector.
This then led to the idea of a hideaway in the city, a house that was sheltered in privacy that allows for contemplation yet engaged with its tropical environment. The idea of shelter from the searing heat and tropical storms developed from the simple metaphorical refuge to a complex study of how the roof would dominate, surround and protect its inhabitants like how a mother cuddles its child.
Various studies were done on the planning requirements to meet the clients brief and combining it with the organic roof form that encompasses the house protecting it from the Eastern and Western sun whilst keeping the views out to the garden and the city.
As the access of the house from the top of the slope, the house cascaded down with the slope over 3 levels down. At the road level the house appeared as driveway that led to the carporch and the house dramatically ‘disappears’ down the slope. The act of descending down the slope became the narrative of the journey in which spaces started to unravel whilst always engaging with the Nyatoh timber lined roof above. The roof became the canopy that shielded the structured spaces below interacting with the surroundings and topography. In the same way a tree’s canopy freely spreads out seeking the sun above its structured trunk, the roof canopy was designed to create shelter from the sun and rain extending its span almost touching the earth below. All the internal spaces looked up towards the sheltering canopy from the bedrooms, bathrooms and living spaces. The house was no longer defined by the internal programmatic spaces but by the sheltering canopy. The structural I-beams supporting the timber lined canopy were revealed much like the structure of a leaf with the midrib branching out to veins that supports the epidermis.
Below the canopy, all spaces were designed to be completely open when required to the elements to absorb the cool breezes flowing up the hills with the central located pool acting as a natural evaporative cooler and backdrop. The floating roof canopy allowed the idea of glazed or open spaces above to allow for light and ventilation to freely flow in. The steel staircase and glassed lift with voids allowed for connectivity with the roof even at the lower levels of the house.
Internal furnishing of antique from the owner’s collection complimented the deliberate weathered rusted roof structure above. Vivid colours were used to frame a poster of Suzie Wong in the bedroom wall and antique doors opened up to secret spaces within the house.
Being up on the hill with its jungle like setting the temperatures are a little cooler than the city. Hence the design priority was to preserve its natural surroundings and take advantage of the cool breeze that permeate its surroundings.
The client was a middle-aged expatriate bachelor but wanted a house that could be both his “man-cave” and eventually a home when he settles down. He is also a prolific writer and has deep interest in Malaysian post-war history and is an avid antique collector.
This then led to the idea of a hideaway in the city, a house that was sheltered in privacy that allows for contemplation yet engaged with its tropical environment. The idea of shelter from the searing heat and tropical storms developed from the simple metaphorical refuge to a complex study of how the roof would dominate, surround and protect its inhabitants like how a mother cuddles its child.
Various studies were done on the planning requirements to meet the clients brief and combining it with the organic roof form that encompasses the house protecting it from the Eastern and Western sun whilst keeping the views out to the garden and the city.
As the access of the house from the top of the slope, the house cascaded down with the slope over 3 levels down. At the road level the house appeared as driveway that led to the carporch and the house dramatically ‘disappears’ down the slope. The act of descending down the slope became the narrative of the journey in which spaces started to unravel whilst always engaging with the Nyatoh timber lined roof above. The roof became the canopy that shielded the structured spaces below interacting with the surroundings and topography. In the same way a tree’s canopy freely spreads out seeking the sun above its structured trunk, the roof canopy was designed to create shelter from the sun and rain extending its span almost touching the earth below. All the internal spaces looked up towards the sheltering canopy from the bedrooms, bathrooms and living spaces. The house was no longer defined by the internal programmatic spaces but by the sheltering canopy. The structural I-beams supporting the timber lined canopy were revealed much like the structure of a leaf with the midrib branching out to veins that supports the epidermis.
Below the canopy, all spaces were designed to be completely open when required to the elements to absorb the cool breezes flowing up the hills with the central located pool acting as a natural evaporative cooler and backdrop. The floating roof canopy allowed the idea of glazed or open spaces above to allow for light and ventilation to freely flow in. The steel staircase and glassed lift with voids allowed for connectivity with the roof even at the lower levels of the house.
Internal furnishing of antique from the owner’s collection complimented the deliberate weathered rusted roof structure above. Vivid colours were used to frame a poster of Suzie Wong in the bedroom wall and antique doors opened up to secret spaces within the house.
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