Frame and shade

Architectural Review, The, Sept, 1994 by James Gunn

The often fruitful relationship between modernity and tradition in Southeast Asian architecture is epitomised by this radical transformation of an undistinguished suburban house, using traditional local devices to control and modify the climate.

The client acquired a rather crude, boxy suburban house built in the 1960s and wanted to change it to look more welcoming, as well as to respond to the rigour of the climate more effectively.

The architect's response was to preserve the original very serviceable structur of concrete frame with brick infill and alter it by increasing the size of window openings to achieve better relationships between inside and out. At the same time, internal layouts were modified and the whole was reserviced.

Because of the topography of the site, the street level entrance is at first floor level, with the lower level given over to service rooms and a large covered play area opening onto the small garden. Entrance from the cul de sac street is over a bridge (which replaces a large concrete forecourt) which is partly roofed to make a covered car port.

At this level are the main family rooms. Bedrooms are on the floor above. A wid covered timber balcony is propped from the main structure to extend the south and west sides of the master bedroom and gives a measure of shade to the living room below. But the main shading devices are trellises that cover much of the exterior of the house. Timber grids of local hardwood are supported by black painted steel frames fixed to the main structure. (The steel is necessary because of the timber's weight.) This adaptation of an immemorial device has several functions: it acknowledges local building tradition, acts as a veil ove the rather utilitarian inner box and shades the core -- the shading effect will of course be greatly increased when creepers are allowed to grow. The grid of the trellises is echoed in those of the balustrades and the timber window frame (which replace original aluminium ones). The effect is welcoming and ever-changing as the shadows move with the sun's course. The layerings add a richness of experience of space that draws on both tradition and Modernism.