When one family of four in East Jakarta renovated its house, the priority was to make a simple, easily maintained space as the children started working. The home’s new look met those standards–and also helped members of the family see each other more often.
Photo by Bagus Tri Laksono
The style continues inside, where the walls were left unpainted. The architects, who also designed the interior, placed only a few pieces of furniture and decor, eschewing barriers to make the room look more spacious, clean and neat at all times.
Several space programmes from the old house were cut out and merged into a common area where many activities can be done. Thanks to this simplified design, the house currently has a small side garden. The spaces are located side by side.
Family members can see each other every day in the common area, where the living room, dining room and kitchen have been combined into a single space. To make the room feel spacious, the architects optimized the relatively small space by removing a column in the middle of the room and installing a two-storey high ceiling, which is also useful for air circulation and to lower the temperature. This feature is beneficial, considering the room would be densely populated during regular family gatherings and weekly prayer meetings. Although catering to multiple functions, the room has only a two-seater sofa and a TV set to mark its function as living room, as well as a kitchen cabinet and island that also serves as the dining table to the opposite. Here, the family can greet and wave goodbye to each other, as the entrance door is located to the corner.
The mother, a dentist, has a work space next to the entrance. The owners have a bedroom in the front of the house. Here they can watch over the neighbourhood while remaining close to the common area and the side garden. They do not have a master bedroom, opting for a humble bedroom instead. As there is only the bed in the bedroom, the couple is driven to spend time in the common area with the family.
A similar ethos is also at work in the children’s bedrooms on the second floor, only with addition of built-in desks, to allow work at home. The layouts of both rooms are mirrored. Doors to these bedrooms are located next to each other so the siblings can feel closer. Both share a bathroom, as they have since their youth. The doors to the bedroom are camouflaged by an aesthetic wooden panel, which also hides a closet.
The compact features of this home provide more space for the family’s quality time. They might now have changed their vision of their home, but the new house surely will be the place to develop new memories in the future.