The story of the project is to create a pleasurable and happy environment for an expatriate family. The couple living in Singapore, Adam Reynolds & Laurie Pearson wanted to build their house in Johor for friends and to be near their children’s school in Johor. They searched online for an award winning Malaysian architecture firm to design their dream house. They came with a sketch for a courtyard house. Our company had looked at the sketches and suggested that the house be held together with a central body of water as the 'courtyard.'
The courtyard (in this case a water court) is located between the private sleeping areas and the living spaces. The private areas consist of a master bedroom suite, two children’s rooms, a visitor’s suite and a study. These are closely integrated as ‘pods’ facing northwest and southeast. To mitigate the effects of early morning and late afternoon solar penetration, all the rooms have deep recessed windows. There is a well detailed wall on the northwest corner of the house.
The more public areas are to the southeast of the water court and are more open and transparent with clear-glazed full-height sliding doors, protected by an over-sailing roof, to permit direct contact with the garden. The glass pavilion can be closed for more formal dining and audio-visual space. A verandah along the northeast facing façade provides the breakfast area and for casual dining alongside a barbecue. Ceiling fans move the air along the verandah.
The overall building configuration juxtaposes cubist forms with planar surfaces and a glass pavilion. All the rooms are accessed from an open sided walkway that forms the axis of the plan, flanked by a 30metre long koi pond. A bench is strategically located along the walkway to view the water court and the koi pond. It is a special place inviting contemplation. The service areas of the house (i.e. kitchen, laundry room, drying yard and maids’ quarters) are at the very front of the house where they control the entry but they are visually concealed from the main entrance in the southeast corner of the site.
The architect also employs a range of the ‘green features’ associated with an ecological agenda including optimal orientation in relation to the sun-path and wind cone, passive cooling by good cross ventilation and the use of large water bodies, shading by deep overhangs, clear glazing and rainwater harvesting for irrigation purpose. The architect initially proposed a green roof connected to the surrounding landscape but the owners declined as they plan to install solar panels to power their computers and to recharge mobile phones, in effect becoming potentially independent of the grid for these home-office essential items.
The proximity of Johor to Singapore has made the southernmost state of Malaysia the location of choice for a number of international universities, schools and private hospitals. The owners of the Reynolds’ House – a banker and a lawyer, both work in the Singapore CBD area but live in Johor to be close to Marlborough College where their teenage children are students. It is a lifestyle choice. Their preference is to commute to Singapore rather than have their offspring’s board at the school. It is evidently a choice that others have made for themselves. There are several families nearby who have made the similar decision. A community has grown up that is related to the school with its academic standards and its 40-hectare sports field.
Besides, the Reynolds, the location is the perfect antidote to the pace of life in Singapore with its 5.8 million population on a small island. On a good day the parent’s commute takes 45 minutes, which they consider to be acceptable when compared to New York and London where both had previously worked. The family also have a beautiful house, which they describe as a perfect dwelling at the most northerly point of the North Island in New Zealand, so commuting between Johor and Singapore is relatively short with Senai International Airport just 30 minutes away.
Perhaps influenced by their Antipodean roots the Reynolds’ brief was for a single-storey house and the architect has responded with a plan form that has a number of subliminal references including the colonial Plantation Bungalow whereby the most public rooms are often separated from the more private areas by a courtyard and accessed via a verandah. More obviously the plan references De Stijl in the disposition of elements along a linear axis and the Miesien language of the thin horizontal roof supported by slender 200mm diameter RHS (Rolled Hollow Steel) columns.
The house is located on a rectangular site that slopes down steeply from south to north. The owner’s requirement was for a single-storey dwelling and this has necessitated some cut-and-fill to create a flat plateau. The result is, perhaps unique for a dwelling in Malaysia, a barrier-free residence without any steps or stairs other than an extension on the roof for the maid’s accommodation. The boundaries have a high level of passive security.
Ultimately the architect has achieved a cool, white, Zen-like ambience that is calm and peaceful – something the owners evidently value. When asked about their house, they replied “It’s like living in paradise.”
The story of the project is to create a pleasurable and happy environment for an expatriate family. The couple living in Singapore, Adam Reynolds & Laurie Pearson wanted to build their house in Johor for friends and to be near their children’s school in Johor. They searched online for an award winning Malaysian architecture firm to design their dream house. They came with a sketch for a courtyard house. Our company had looked at the sketches and suggested that the house be held together with a central body of water as the 'courtyard.'
The courtyard (in this case a water court) is located between the private sleeping areas and the living spaces. The private areas consist of a master bedroom suite, two children’s rooms, a visitor’s suite and a study. These are closely integrated as ‘pods’ facing northwest and southeast. To mitigate the effects of early morning and late afternoon solar penetration, all the rooms have deep recessed windows. There is a well detailed wall on the northwest corner of the house.
The more public areas are to the southeast of the water court and are more open and transparent with clear-glazed full-height sliding doors, protected by an over-sailing roof, to permit direct contact with the garden. The glass pavilion can be closed for more formal dining and audio-visual space. A verandah along the northeast facing façade provides the breakfast area and for casual dining alongside a barbecue. Ceiling fans move the air along the verandah.
The overall building configuration juxtaposes cubist forms with planar surfaces and a glass pavilion. All the rooms are accessed from an open sided walkway that forms the axis of the plan, flanked by a 30metre long koi pond. A bench is strategically located along the walkway to view the water court and the koi pond. It is a special place inviting contemplation. The service areas of the house (i.e. kitchen, laundry room, drying yard and maids’ quarters) are at the very front of the house where they control the entry but they are visually concealed from the main entrance in the southeast corner of the site.
The architect also employs a range of the ‘green features’ associated with an ecological agenda including optimal orientation in relation to the sun-path and wind cone, passive cooling by good cross ventilation and the use of large water bodies, shading by deep overhangs, clear glazing and rainwater harvesting for irrigation purpose. The architect initially proposed a green roof connected to the surrounding landscape but the owners declined as they plan to install solar panels to power their computers and to recharge mobile phones, in effect becoming potentially independent of the grid for these home-office essential items.
The proximity of Johor to Singapore has made the southernmost state of Malaysia the location of choice for a number of international universities, schools and private hospitals. The owners of the Reynolds’ House – a banker and a lawyer, both work in the Singapore CBD area but live in Johor to be close to Marlborough College where their teenage children are students. It is a lifestyle choice. Their preference is to commute to Singapore rather than have their offspring’s board at the school. It is evidently a choice that others have made for themselves. There are several families nearby who have made the similar decision. A community has grown up that is related to the school with its academic standards and its 40-hectare sports field.
Besides, the Reynolds, the location is the perfect antidote to the pace of life in Singapore with its 5.8 million population on a small island. On a good day the parent’s commute takes 45 minutes, which they consider to be acceptable when compared to New York and London where both had previously worked. The family also have a beautiful house, which they describe as a perfect dwelling at the most northerly point of the North Island in New Zealand, so commuting between Johor and Singapore is relatively short with Senai International Airport just 30 minutes away.
Perhaps influenced by their Antipodean roots the Reynolds’ brief was for a single-storey house and the architect has responded with a plan form that has a number of subliminal references including the colonial Plantation Bungalow whereby the most public rooms are often separated from the more private areas by a courtyard and accessed via a verandah. More obviously the plan references De Stijl in the disposition of elements along a linear axis and the Miesien language of the thin horizontal roof supported by slender 200mm diameter RHS (Rolled Hollow Steel) columns.
The house is located on a rectangular site that slopes down steeply from south to north. The owner’s requirement was for a single-storey dwelling and this has necessitated some cut-and-fill to create a flat plateau. The result is, perhaps unique for a dwelling in Malaysia, a barrier-free residence without any steps or stairs other than an extension on the roof for the maid’s accommodation. The boundaries have a high level of passive security.
Ultimately the architect has achieved a cool, white, Zen-like ambience that is calm and peaceful – something the owners evidently value. When asked about their house, they replied “It’s like living in paradise.”
The story of the project is to create a pleasurable and happy environment for an expatriate family. The couple living in Singapore, Adam Reynolds & Laurie Pearson wanted to build their house in Johor for friends and to be near their children’s school in Johor. They searched online for an award winning Malaysian architecture firm to design their dream house. They came with a sketch for a courtyard house. Our company had looked at the sketches and suggested that the house be held together with a central body of water as the 'courtyard.'
The courtyard (in this case a water court) is located between the private sleeping areas and the living spaces. The private areas consist of a master bedroom suite, two children’s rooms, a visitor’s suite and a study. These are closely integrated as ‘pods’ facing northwest and southeast. To mitigate the effects of early morning and late afternoon solar penetration, all the rooms have deep recessed windows. There is a well detailed wall on the northwest corner of the house.
The more public areas are to the southeast of the water court and are more open and transparent with clear-glazed full-height sliding doors, protected by an over-sailing roof, to permit direct contact with the garden. The glass pavilion can be closed for more formal dining and audio-visual space. A verandah along the northeast facing façade provides the breakfast area and for casual dining alongside a barbecue. Ceiling fans move the air along the verandah.
The overall building configuration juxtaposes cubist forms with planar surfaces and a glass pavilion. All the rooms are accessed from an open sided walkway that forms the axis of the plan, flanked by a 30metre long koi pond. A bench is strategically located along the walkway to view the water court and the koi pond. It is a special place inviting contemplation. The service areas of the house (i.e. kitchen, laundry room, drying yard and maids’ quarters) are at the very front of the house where they control the entry but they are visually concealed from the main entrance in the southeast corner of the site.
The architect also employs a range of the ‘green features’ associated with an ecological agenda including optimal orientation in relation to the sun-path and wind cone, passive cooling by good cross ventilation and the use of large water bodies, shading by deep overhangs, clear glazing and rainwater harvesting for irrigation purpose. The architect initially proposed a green roof connected to the surrounding landscape but the owners declined as they plan to install solar panels to power their computers and to recharge mobile phones, in effect becoming potentially independent of the grid for these home-office essential items.
The proximity of Johor to Singapore has made the southernmost state of Malaysia the location of choice for a number of international universities, schools and private hospitals. The owners of the Reynolds’ House – a banker and a lawyer, both work in the Singapore CBD area but live in Johor to be close to Marlborough College where their teenage children are students. It is a lifestyle choice. Their preference is to commute to Singapore rather than have their offspring’s board at the school. It is evidently a choice that others have made for themselves. There are several families nearby who have made the similar decision. A community has grown up that is related to the school with its academic standards and its 40-hectare sports field.
Besides, the Reynolds, the location is the perfect antidote to the pace of life in Singapore with its 5.8 million population on a small island. On a good day the parent’s commute takes 45 minutes, which they consider to be acceptable when compared to New York and London where both had previously worked. The family also have a beautiful house, which they describe as a perfect dwelling at the most northerly point of the North Island in New Zealand, so commuting between Johor and Singapore is relatively short with Senai International Airport just 30 minutes away.
Perhaps influenced by their Antipodean roots the Reynolds’ brief was for a single-storey house and the architect has responded with a plan form that has a number of subliminal references including the colonial Plantation Bungalow whereby the most public rooms are often separated from the more private areas by a courtyard and accessed via a verandah. More obviously the plan references De Stijl in the disposition of elements along a linear axis and the Miesien language of the thin horizontal roof supported by slender 200mm diameter RHS (Rolled Hollow Steel) columns.
The house is located on a rectangular site that slopes down steeply from south to north. The owner’s requirement was for a single-storey dwelling and this has necessitated some cut-and-fill to create a flat plateau. The result is, perhaps unique for a dwelling in Malaysia, a barrier-free residence without any steps or stairs other than an extension on the roof for the maid’s accommodation. The boundaries have a high level of passive security.
Ultimately the architect has achieved a cool, white, Zen-like ambience that is calm and peaceful – something the owners evidently value. When asked about their house, they replied “It’s like living in paradise.”