Rachel House

Rachel House is a contemporary villa that was designed to ensure an open environment for the family to interact and enjoy the central water courtyard on ground level while maintaining their own individual private space on the upper floor bedrooms. The clean and modern facade is derived from juxtaposing bedroom cubes where one can enjoy framed views out into the lush oriental-themed landscape garden. The double-volume living room, dining, and tea house open into the tranquility of the courtyard and the sound of flowing water. Covering an area of 1000 square meters, this villa offers majestic views of the surroundings while also representing the client’s admiration for green design. The intent was to create a space that would foster family bonding and create an overall warm and welcoming space for the users and their guests. The first floor is equipped with family activity spaces and entertainment zones, meanwhile, the second and third floors offer good sized bedrooms and balconies are designed with multiple perspectives to enjoy the landscape of this courtyard. The clean and modern lines of the exterior reveal the concept of simplicity and subtleness while seamlessly blending in with lush landscaping to create an inside-yet-out feel. Geometric blocks of different scales work together seamlessly on the facade. These staggered balcony blocks house the main bedrooms that are purposefully designed to overlook the central courtyard garden. The cantilevered balcony structure simultaneously acts as a sun-shading overhang for the ground floor terraces. All the species of trees chosen are as per the Chinese seasonal trees. As a result, the scenery doesn’t remain stagnant all year long but reflects the four major seasons as they occur, further lending to the uniqueness of the house. The ultimate goal of the project was to ensure that the users not only had an open environment for free communication and harmonious interaction but also have their own individual private safe space, away from everyone. The project aims to strike the intricate balance between privacy and social interaction while providing the functions of flexibility to sustain normal day to day life. Taking inspiration from nature - an earthy yet subtle color palette was proposed. The combination of the earth-colored wood with the natural grey granite creates a unique rhythm throughout the surface of the facade. Ensuring the utmost visual privacy and human wellness, green design strategies were adopted to provide the family with a comfortable living experience. Some of the rocks that were originally part of the site also are seen in the courtyard, making the landscaping more organic and natural. The courtyard of this project is derived from techniques used extensively in southern China. Large floor to ceiling windows assists tremendously with the ventilation of the spaces according to the weather conditions of the location with ample overhang in necessary places and even vertical walls on the facade for shielding against weather and sunlight.