Come Dine WIth Me

The house sits at the rear from the road access, with a long driveway, surrounded by the backyards and sides of neighbouring houses, resulting in a little privacy. The existing pitched roof overhang provided little shelter on hot days and monsoon season. As such, the side door was used instead of the main door, both day & night curtains were always used at all times of the day, obscuring the garden view at the front of the house. An avid cook and organic wine collector, the client, expressed that the existing classical design, with dated finishes were not to their taste. Spatially, the requirements were a wine cellar, two study rooms (one for his wife and one for himself), a gym and a baby room as they’ve been trying for one. After documenting every nook and cranny and studying the old hand drafted architectural and structure drawings of the house, I’d thought of some drastic layout changes that would create a laidback dwelling, allowing the occupants to enjoy the space in a different manner, yet addressing their practical needs. A 21m length x 4.4m metal roof, propped up by a colonnade of circular steel columns, matching the existing concrete columns, was inserted below the existing roof at the front of house. It wraps around the car porch and apron at the side, providing the much-needed shelter and repositioning of the main door for a pronounced sense of arrival. With this deep sheltered verandah, laidback alfresco outdoor terraces emerged and reduced the need for over reliance on air conditioning at the dry kitchen and dining room. As the kitchen will be frequently used by the client and I saw it as the heartbeat of the house, it was relocated upfront alongside with the dining room, to replace the obsolete old guest bedroom and dark living room, enabling the cook to interact with his party of guests, whether indoors or outdoors. A new cross ventilated passage to the new powder room and back of house was realized, with the old kitchen being resized for a walk in wine storage cellar, accessible from concealed panels at the new living room. The master bedroom on the 2nd storey was almagamated with and adjoining room, for a walk in wardrobe cum study, accessed via a discreet door. While the gym room provides a buffer to the baby’s room. In order to bring in more cross ventilation and natural light into the bathrooms, situated along the North/South sectors of the house, a planter box was inserted next to the master bath shower, and the old balcony between bath 3 & 4, which used to house air conditioning compressors was converted to another planter box, both with rotating aluminum louvers, in place of windows. The interior, created with contemplative laidback finishes, colors and furniture gelled in seamlessly. From an inward habited house due to site constraints, it opened outward for the occupants. The outdoor dining terrace has become one of the favourite area for the family.s.