Project 1: Building Anaysis

WECOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN:DESIGN IN NATURE

Villa Saachi designed by Saachi was aimed to be a unique architectural property that take takes full advantage of the natural greenbelt view and a constant breeze that flows around the villa.

This newly constructed tropical modern residence is designed to encourage outdoor living in a tropical climates and connect human living style with nature.

Overview board

Site Planning

The architect has embraced the challenges of the site and set on the steep terrain so the building has split up into half placed beneath the ground of street level which has minimum interference with the slope. A deep and narrow land with moderate slope and front views to a rice field patch. The layout uses the slope to distribute the program in two buildings. The layout in the land allows to create different areas, a central garden, a patio with an ancient tree and a rooftop terrace to enjoy the views.

Design Philosophy & Approach

The design approach is to create a transition space that connects parts of the residence the outside is directly connected to the inside. This villa opens up to its surrounding as much as it embodies a comfortable living space in the interior of the house, which responds to environmental conditions.

With its open concept, it maximises contact with nature and greenbelt rice paddies views and minimises disturbance to the site.

First Board(1/2)

Second Board(2/2)

Design Critics

The transition space that is created in the social area connects the interior to the outside which response to environmental conditions and benefits from the natural ventilation in this tropical country. The villa is designed with an open layout concept is an efficient way to moderate the indoor climate which is suitable to be located in such a hot and humid tropical climate in Bali, Indonesia.

The site of the building takes benefits from the contour of the terrain and has the advantage of its proximity to the rice paddies field, which provides a tranquil atmosphere on the moderate slope and the overall site planning is responsive to the environment which intends to use the hill to distribute the program in two different functions of buildings to serve as a relaxing private villa, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

This building mass has two sections of buildings in which the top section contains a suite of rooms placed on the higher slope position whereas the bottom section has served as a social area which is placed on the lower slope and faces the river to bring natural elements to the interior. This building form accentuates the effect of the surrounding nature but lacks local attractive and aesthetic traditional façade designs.

The top section building has a closed floor plan layout which is a good option for the design of suites layout which is served as private spaces but it inhibits the use of cross ventilation. The bottom section of the building is designed based on an open layout concept which is good for natural ventilation and maximizing the natural light getting through the interior which is suited for local building cultures while on the negative side it lacks more passive louver shading systems to increase the privacy of tourists based on the needs of the users.

Many passive design strategies are implemented in the building, but there is still room for improvement in terms of services and technologies. There is a lack of innovative technology like rainwater harvesting systems and solar panel systems that could have taken advantage of the local tropical climate in Bali to fully maximize the ecological design and optimize energy use in the building.