Founded in 2012, Ilcasa Studio has done countless projects, most of which are residential projects.Yandi Prayudhi and Ariesta Anastasia, two of the founders, agree that all spaces in a house have to function well, accommodate the needs of the occupants, and that style and aesthetics are important because they show the characters of the occupants. In an interview with Indonesia Design, they share about the process and their view about the Pantai Mutiara House project.
What was the brief from the clients?
Yandi (Y): Initially they only wanted a simple renovation. But over time, with a new child on the way back then, they realised that they needed more rooms. What was going to only be an interior project rolled into an interior and architectural project. Style-wise, they wanted something simple, contemporary, something more suitable
for their age.
Ariesta (A): They wanted something along the lines of luxury but homy. They wanted a functional house, not just something to show off.
How did you translate it into design concept?
A: We designed it in a light, modern and fresh style, more to Contemporary American style. It still matches the façade, which is in American Classic style.
Y: An input from the architect was to give them a new experience. Make them have a different experience from the one they felt in the original house.
How long did the project take?
Y: Relatively long, from 2019 to 2022. There was a short pause in the beginning of the pandemic. By ‘relatively long’ I mean that the project was meant to be a much smaller one. But as their needs grew, I asked my architect friend, Suman, to take over the architectural side of the project. We eliminated the basement but also added a new floor on top.
Is there any renovation of the swimming pool?
Y: The pool is still in the original position. We only replaced the water system with something better in terms of resilience to leakage, maintenance and easier to produce. Aside from that, we replaced the floor around the pool with old materials from the original house.
What was the most challenging part of the project?
Y: For me, it’s the layout stage because there were some issues with the structure.
A: Basically, renovating a house is very challenging because we often find new problems that weren’t expected at first. It’s different from building a house from scratch because then we would know everything about it from the beginning. Another challenge is finding the solution to different requests between the couple. To do so, we had to converse a lot with them. Sometimes we can see what they actually want from a simple conversation.
Y: The key is communication. They sent us design references that they liked, then we sorted the suitable ones and developed from there.
Is there any part of the design that was influenced by the pandemic?
Y: Not much. Only small things like putting trays in the foyer for sanitizer bottles, masks and things like that.
Which part of the house that you are most satisfied with?
Y: The living and dining room, as well as the lounge and foyer. The final results are exactly like the initial design.
A: I’m very happy with the master bedroom, especially the bathroom. I can imagine how enjoyable it would be to come home to a beautiful bathroom where you clean up nice and feel comfortable. All the fatigue would be gone in no time! Also, the foyer. Many clients are nervous about using darker colours in their home because they don’t want the room to seem narrow. But in this case, we know it won’t be a problem because the room is big enough and abundant with sun light. But they were worried. So, after we showed them samples and material finishing, they finally agreed to use the colour, and it was satisfying that what they were worried about did not happen.