ABSTRACT:
The house is an introvert. Situated in a dense urban neighborhood but with the main objective of creating a light-filled airy home surrounded by gardens, the design strategy was to push the house to the edge, insert a courtyard and a double height living space central to the house where other public areas of the house connect. Visual connections and adjacencies of public spaces allow for a good flow of light and air, and for living spaces of the house to relate.
on NOSTALGIA:
The house is a modern take on a Filipino home that the wife grew up in. There was always a reference to her parent’s home as we were designing this house. That home is an open plan, internally clad in timber and surrounded by semi-enclosed gardens where her family still hosts weekly Sunday lunches. For this project and its constraint of space however, the permitter gardens are kept to a minimum and the main garden was brought to the centre of the house. The courtyard has a translucent canopy to allow that space to be used as an extended living-dining area for gatherings. Like her childhood home, the living, dining, and secondary public spaces and hallways to the bedrooms all visually connected. Timber is sparingly introduced in areas where the hand touches.