The Compact PD House Maximizes the Potentials of Its Site

The process of planning buildings is greatly influenced by its site conditions. Each site brings both challenges and potentials to the project, especially related to physical surroundings and environmental aspects. By carefully analyzing all the key components of the site, the challenges that come with its preliminary state can be solved and the hidden potentials can be discovered and highlighted in the design. This kind of approach can be seen in the design of PD House in Bogor.

Despite its relatively small size area, the site of PD House has the special advantage of mountain-facing location. Utilising this potential, PD House is designed as a two-storey house with a mezzanine floor. The top floor of the house has a special balcony facing Mount Gede as the view. The balcony becomes the focal point of the house and its presence allows the residents to feel connected to the surrounding environment.

The house position on site is determined by analyzing the site's sun path. Being a tropical country, Indonesia certainly gets sunlight exposure all year round. This site characteristic directly affects the orientation of PD House. The long side of the building is facing north-south direction due to its less sun exposure. The short side faces east and west direction to minimize the sun exposure to the house.

The site's surrounding neighbourhood also plays a role in deciding the building position. The house originally had a wall attached to its neighbour's wall. A change is made so that the wall stands separated, preventing dampness inside the house.

Beside the abundant sun exposure, the site of PD House is located in Bogor which is known as the city of rain. The high rainfall makes a cool climate, creating the opportunity of maximizing natural ventilation through 24-hour openings. The good air circulation brings a healthier home environment to the residents.

The limited budget challenge is answered with a compact home plan. Despite the limitation, PD House is designed to meet the client's needs and personal preferences.

PD House uses efficient spatial planning to provide compact, yet still comfortable rooms. The compact home layout helps shape how the residents do activities inside the house and furnish the space suitably without sacrificing comfort. The client's preferred Japandi-Scandinavian design style is translated into a selection of neutral and warm colours.

The mountain-facing PD House with Japandi-Scandinavian style caters the needs and preferences of its residents in a spatially efficient compact home. It perfectly displays how home design is born from maximizing the potentials of its site, while solving its challenges at the same time.