Nestle

Paradoxically coherent and uniquely individualized for each family, the project was conceived as a fragmented mass inserted into the existing topography, where landscape visually unifies the separate masses whilst acting as outdoor nodes of communal interaction. Despite the challenges in addressing variegated needs for different families (typical for a multi-generation home), a prevalent desire for an idyllic communal living posited an opportunity to reinterpret what it meant to blur the boundaries of inside and outside, embracing topicality, whilst catering for expansive gathering spaces that extends towards the outdoor. Situated in the basement, the courtyard is a communal space carved out of the existing topography. Here, the basement becomes a brightly lit and impressionable focal point upon arrival, dissociating itself from commonly perceived basements that are devoid of daylight. To provide for meaningful green breakout spaces, a central courtyard surrounded by key communal spaces afford for the large gatherings to spill. smaller unbuilt pockets of green were judiciously designed to suit a variety of preferences for each family. Commonly associated as having an autonomous relationship with one another, the main courtyard and its surrounding buildings was innovated to be one which interrelates with one another, where semblances of the surrounding green can be felt within the buildings itself through gestures of boulderscapes. The landscape within the courtyard can thus be perceived as malleable as it creeps deeply into key communal spaces, making it perceivable from street level, redefining the archetype of an insular courtyard. More importantly, in a tropical context that is plagued with erratic harsh sunlight and high humidity, lattice-like sunscreens diffuse the harsh western daylight entering key living spaces, reducing cooling loads while engaging an interplay of light and shadow. Key communal spaces were also designed to be opened externally on two ends to be cross ventilated and passively cooled. To embrace the idyllic spirit of topicality thus goes beyond the mere reinterpretation of landscape and architecture, but also on that takes into consideration the enclosures of space that defines thermal comfort.