Located on a site of 11,150 sqft, House at Jalan Urat Mata, Kuching is a double-story detached house that implements tropical and modern design elements with a touch of informality. The client requested a living space that can accommodate a family of 3 generations and 2 pet corgis. The design spans widely along the horizontal axis under one big overhang roof with various heights of walls forming a striking silhouette.
At the entrance, one is welcomed by the central stairwell with a water feature that can look through and into the lawn behind, along with a stone feature wall on its side. The presence of diverse components and their unique texture creates a rich visual perspective that may awestruck visitors.
The incorporation of operable interventions such as folding doors and pivoted lattice screens is a recurring theme in the design layout as it is capable of changing the mood of the space drastically in terms of the occupants’ desires. Nonetheless, it is one of the passive design strategies to provide natural sunlight and ventilation into the internal spaces, improving the thermal comfort of the house located in a tropical climate.
To the right, the living room is equipped with glass folding doors and garden views. The space may be used in different manners according to the different activities carried out. When the glass doors are kept open, they connect the living room to the outdoor lobby patio, BBQ decking and a lush garden, forming a large open event space; when closed, it forms a secured private space for the family. These flexible layouts provide infinite opportunities to create unique experiences and memories with dear ones.
On the other side of the floor, spaces are aligned linearly with an outdoor decking at the end. The layering of spaces on the open layout eliminates the distinctive boundaries of the family, dining, and kitchen areas, ensuring a connected visual across.
Through the first-floor balcony, one can journey along the steelgrated flooring that spans along the exterior of the master bedroom until it arrives at the central stairwell. It works as a passageway and a balcony for the occupants to enjoy the external ambience without worrying about being seen or exposed to the harsh sun. The grating material allows vertical visual transparency from the ground floor lobby patio. Shaded by a rectangular vent block screen, it creates a unique spatial experience.
The 2.5m high rectangular vent block walls form a porous boundary between the sheltered and open space above while reducing the east and west sun’s glare. With a dimension of 190 x 390 x 190/140, the blocks were arranged in which all blocks were mirrored to their adjacent blocks, forming a pattern that manipulates the surface of the screen, creating an expressive yet pragmatic façade element.
The entertainment room located on the first floor facing the entryway with sliding screens and a sliding glass door behind enables the space to be versatile to the weather and various functions. Be it for a movie or study session; sunny or rainy day, the mood of the room can be adjusted to maximize the spatial experience according to the specific functions.
As ‘cool’ as the façade may seem, House at Urat Mata is a house that embraces every possibility, a tropical home that compromises seclusion with inclusion, a family’s haven behind the wall.
“The House at Urat Mata boasts unconventional double-skin façades for practical purposes like sun shading and privacy. Its attempt at an open layout blurs boundaries between living spaces, compromising architectural coherence for functionality. The design’s attempt to create an open and inclusive space on the ground floor results in blurred boundaries between living areas, potentially diminishing the sense of individual spaces within the home.”
