architecture buzz!!

Photo©Mr Albert Lim KS of Albert Lim KS Photographer

This is the work from Unit One Design sdn bhd led by John Ding and Ken Wong. The project recently received WAN AWARDS 2009 for residential category. It’s called Leisure Farm Villas located in  Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Concept :
The integration of three individual sites and the design and construction of a complex of five separate buildings for a single client. The complex consists of the main house for the parents [currently put on hold], an orchard, and four individual villas where ‘most of the walls are views’, one for each child, all linked by landscaped walkways. The scope of works included the master plan for the complex, down to the design and selection of individual pieces of furniture for each space, a fully integrated design.

Photo©Mr Albert Lim KS of Albert Lim KS Photographer

Main House :
The final piece of the overall jigsaw, it is composed of three wings in total, each forming new gardens and courtyards created by walls or difference in levels, so the living spaces will have views of the entire site. Sited towards the apex of the site in totality, the house acts as a wall embracing the project where the villas and the orchard are situated [the eastern part of the site] which is the private domain of the development.

Overall Site Plan Courtesy Unit One Design

Orchard :

A crucial design element, the orchard is situated within the large landscaped zone that occupies one third of the overall complex. It is the focus of the villas and main house in terms of siting, planning and outlook and will produce a variety of fruits to be used by family and friends.

To address both the scale of the landscaped zone and the individual villas the area the orchard occupies is similar to the villas and has been structured by a series of low pathways and an elevated walkway. The low pathways align with the boundary wall between villas and provide access for the picking of ripe fruit and general orchard maintenance. The elevated walkway spans between two water bodies, the retention pond in the corner of the orchard to the water feature and pavilion of the main house, providing pedestrian access through the orchard canopy.

A large retention pond defines the extent of the orchard and anchors the corner of the complex. Water is harvested from the landscape and is stored within the retention pond before being reused on the orchard and other gardens. When matured the orchard will produce fruit, create dense pockets of vegetation in a sparse landscape, a unique outlook and a visual extension of each villa

Overall Site Plan Courtesy Unit One Design

The Villas :
The individual villas were designed for the children, responding to the natural fall of the site and in anticipation of the future views to a man made landscape. Each villa has been offset both in plan and vertically to provide privacy and definition of the single villas. Increased seperation of the villas is achieved through the introduction of lower ground courtyards. The entrances have limited openings to afford privacy for each family and a solid base from which the villa extends. The dominant feature of the design is the roof plane, cantilevering out six metres it provides shade from the rain on the more open side of the villa and acts as a strong expression in contrast to the subdued context. A long driveway from the main entry of the complex drops under and through the landscaping of the main house and provides vehicle access to the villas. The approach ends under a dramatic canopy, bounded on both sides by sloping landscaped planes.

Photo©Mr Albert Lim KS of Albert Lim KS Photographer

The planning of each space sought to maximise views, light and ventilation, resulting in spaces of varying character. The ground level contains the public domain for the villas, consisting of the kitchen, laundry, dining and living spaces. As the occupant moves through the level, from the entrance to the landscape, the space increases from single height to double height. The floor finish is in-situ white terrazzo, reflecting the roof plane above, and contributing to a restrained materials palette. It finishes flush with the lawn, demarcated by a channel that collects and discharges any rain or surface water.

The dining space overlooks a courtyard below, screened from the neighbours by a combination of trees and climbing creepers. The double height living space terminates in operable vertical glazing that continues to the roof plane, affording full views of the orchard and the ability to open the entire facade. The immediate landscape, bordered by a concrete edge divorces the ‘wilder’ orchard from the more formal manicured lawn directly outside the living space. All the doors are designed to be fully flexible to allow for spaces on the ground level to be totally opened out towards the tropical landscape.

The volume extending from the entrance to the orchard and from the ground up has no ‘walls’. A mezzanine has been inserted, accommodating either an additional living space or bedroom, and is a subtle expansion of space. The occupant is aware of the entrance canopy as it penetrates into the space on the mezzanine level, acting as a bench seat with views to the north or as a low shelf. The bathroom overlooks a three-storey courtyard enclosed in metal, encouraging the occupant to open the bathroom to the courtyard and freely use the space with no fear of being observed.

Extending from the mezzanine are two light walkways, the eastern walkway provides access to the facade of adjustable screens, allowing individual occupants to control the amount of privacy they would like from their neighbours and adjust sun penetration throughout the days and seasons. The western walkway is a balcony, extending through the structural elements it provides a high external vantage point over the complex, its cantilever mimicking the roof plane. The joinery works on the mezzanine level were designed not to touch the ceiling, in order to conserve the purity of the roof as a protective shading element. A discreet study occupies the corner of this level, creating a private and quiet zone, within a much larger shared open space; fully glazed, it embraces the distant views.

Photo©Mr Albert Lim KS of Albert Lim KS Photographer

The private domain on the basement holds the bedrooms; more conventional in its arrangement but unusual in the sense that the bedrooms are on the lower floor, as opposed to the first floor typically found throughout South East Asia. Full height sliding doors allows each bedroom to completely open out onto their own lower private courtyard. The treesplanted on the lower ground courtyard will eventually provide added privacy between the villas in the form of a foliage screen seen from the ground level.

Consistent with the entire complex a high level of design detail has been applied to the basement level; clusters of small ‘light lenses’ from the ground level above allow light to enter the shared passageway at the basement level. ‘Secret’ doors disguise the two store rooms adjacent to, and under, the folding timber stairs and the shared bathroom opens to the courtyard, its timber doors increasing privacy to the adjacent bedroom. Pedestrian connection between each villa is encouraged on the orchard side. Long timber decks, parallel to the dining and living spaces, extend out from the villa and hovering above the existing landscape before returning through a small space in the concrete boundary wall to the neighbouring villa. The original idea of ‘where most of the walls are views’ remains

All Photo©Mr Albert Lim KS of Albert Lim KS Photographer

[View with PicLens]