SEASCAPE LEMBONGAN

Seascape Villa is an ocean front property on the island of Nusa Lembongan east of Bali.

The design approach comes from the clients request to have “Mediterranean feel” to the villa. In response to this we have developed an architecture made of clean soft white volumes and we have combined these with various built in elements in concrete and pebbled floors. We had to work within a tight foot print due to building restrictions which resulted in a compact 2-storey main building which includes most of the bedrooms and communal spaces while we have placed the guest room above the service building which has been sunken slightly below ground level to reduce its impact against the main building. The pool area takes advantage of the length of the land and connects the building with the beach. The elongated feeling of the pool within the land has been balanced by introducing a circular deck all around it. The combination of round and square shapes continues across the whole project whether it’s in the pond design or in wall openings. Materials used have an organic feel and are accentuated by the extensive use of bamboo screens to balance the contemporary lines of the building.

1) Who was the principal designer for this project?

Valentina Audrito, founder of Word Of Mouth

2) What is the total floor area of the project?

Information in the sheet above

3) Can you tell us a little about the client (their names- if

they are ok with this; nationality, family/couple/single,

how many kids, age of family members, profession etc.)

The owners are a group of friends who share the property for holiday breaks and who come from the following back grounds:

• A family from Malaysia connected to the Royal family

• An actor & movie director from Malaysia

• An American entrepreneur within the advertising industry based in Hong Kong

4) What was the client’s brief? What did they require from this home? Is it a vacation home or permanent residence?

The clients brief was to create a vacation home which would suit the different needs of the owners: from a family retreat to an entertaining space for creatives and younger professionals.

They all agreed on wanting to have a property that would have a mediterrenean feel….in particular greek influenced. They have all spent lot of time throughtout the years in Bali and some of them have properties on the island as well so in Lembongan they wanted to create something slightly different from the more typical tropical approach to design. White and blue tones came up very often during our conversations and the fact that the property was sitting right on the ocean felt like a good fit for their vision.

There were few restrictions we had to work with which contributed quite substantially to our final design:

- a considerable building permit step back from the beach which resulted in a very contained area where the buildings could be placed

- specific numbers and types of space requirements that clients were not keen on negotiating (5 en-suite bedrooms, media room, back kitchen, front kitchen, pool kitchen to name just the main ones)

This resulted in finding ways to accommodate all spaces in a quite compact area and explains the reason of needing to build a 2 storey villa.

5) What are the similarities and differences between tropical and Mediterranean aesthetics in architecture and interior design? (I believe Mediterranean design might be the team for our October issue, so my editor wanted question #5 and #6 included)

When we talk about architecture & design for residential vacation properties the differennce in the approach between the mediterrenanen and the tropics is mainly dependent on theweather characteristics where in the former a very dry hot weather in summer months then tends to cool down considerably during the winter while in the latter a mostly humid climate with strong rainy seasons for part of the year stays pretty consistent in terms of temperature all year around.

This means that treatment of partitions and protections from the elements needs to adjust to these different climatic requirements.

Similarities:

• An overall quality of spaces and flow throughout them connects the 2 types of architectures which often present built-in elements in concrete, open spaces and a focus on perspectives and angles from where to enjoy the surrounding beauty.

• Both approaches make extensive use of terraces and verandahs

•The use and treatment of materials are similar in both places in the sense that both architectures tend to have a very organic feeling about them and materials chosen are always primarily local.

• As workmanships are quite affordable in these areas it’s still relatively easy to find skilled workers such as carpenters, stone & steel workers or builders in general that can make everything in situ therefore the end result is always a natural one. Differences:

• Walls in the Mediterranean architecture tend to be thick and windows in the bedrooms tend to be small in order to maintain the heat inside during winter and outside during summer, whereas in the tropics walls tend to be lighter (from slimmer walls to even wooden or bamboo panels) in order to let the surfaces breathe more and reduce humidity.

• Mostly tropical architecture have pitched roofs to drain away the rain easily while Mediterranean architecture tends to present flat roofs.

• The concept of indoor-outdoor living is more present in tropical architecture as all year round is warm whereas in the Mediterranean all building always can be totally enclosed.

• Tropical architecture use of water bodies and filters is much more extensive than in the mediterrenan.

6) Does Seascape Villa in any way transposes the essence of the Mediterranean through its design and architecture? Are there any elements from Mediterranean design that you incorporated into the villa?

We incorporated round edged white plaster walls, exterior stones walls and polished concrete & pebble brush floors which are all elements already quite

typical in our work but the way we have combined them in this project places the accent on achieving the clients vision.

7) What was the rationale for the use of different shapes and colours throughout the villa?

Shapes: we use geometric shapes in many of our designs as we consider pure geometry to hold an intrinsic sense of proportions and flow . The use of squares and circles throughout the project is very present from the round entrance pond and pool area deck to cutouts in the walls and inclusion of an oversized round mattress in the media room.

Colours: we have used a predominance of whites and blues where possible. We were asked not to use black in any of the design.

8) How does the design and floor plan of this building facilitate the programmes and activities that take place in it?

The villa is very open allowing the indoors and outdoors to seamlessly connect. The view captures ocean views from the common areas as well as the rooms. We have worked following very simple parameters:

• Creating filters in order not to let everything seen and perceived right away through the usage of screen walls and bamboo screens. This allows to create filters of privacy within spaces that are primarily open and without doors •

We wanted to give the possibility to as many bedrooms and spaces as possible to have views towards the ocean at the same time create and sense of interconnection between all spaces in order to make the areas feel bigger.

Therefore we worked with a split-level open space that connects main kitchen, living and dining which is also visually connected to the mezzanine TV area which has been developed as a gigantic catamaran net.

The media room when the doors panels are open becomes an extension of the living room and the bedrooms upstairs have windows from where to pick into the main space.

Terraces at the ground floor and at the first floor connect all spaces and the bridge that runs across the first floor adds another element of connection and fun. The main building sits slightly elevated from the pool area in order to allow for views to be uninterrupted.

9. What was your inspiration behind the villa’s design concept?

All that has been explained above

10. Can you please describe the interior concept and layout, including outdoor decks or terraces. How many “zones” or sections are there? (Eg: Living lounge, dining facilities, office area etc.). Please provide a detailed description of each of the zones. A short paragraph per room/area if possible.

The interior concept was conceived as an extention of the architectural space itself therefore many built-in elements, seats, lounges, desk areas were visualised from the beginning togeher with the building.

We have worked in a way that wherever you are in the space you feel compfrtable and the idea of creating spaces on slightly different levels accentuates a sense of privacy within the same space.

All the terraces act as a barrier between the inside and the outside and the big round pool deck works in contrast with the long pool to create visual balance.

The main living room interior was designed for groups to relax and enjoy and be social. Care was taken to create many unique spaces that will bring people together. The media rooms folding doors can opens on to the living area to create one large space.

The upstairs living room is one large net. The biggest hammock on Nusa Lembongan! Guests can laze in the net while talking with people in the kitchen or living room below or watch a movie.

Each room has an outdoor deck area where guests can relax.

Walls in the bathrooms and living areas are created with bamboo.

Natural materials have been used in conjunction with brass elements.

Some of the bathrroms and wardrobe curtains were made from custom made resin beads.

We designed and created many custom furniture for the project from the kitchen cabinet, to the audio visual cabinet, tables and sofas.

The kitchen island functions as a casual dining table as well as the sink/preparation area.

The guesthouse is a separate structure which has a cylindrical base (the staff quarters) and a cuboid guest room above.

Wood, mirror, brass and terrazzo have been used for most of th interior pieces. For each bathroom different color terrazzo chips were chosen to give slightly different atmospheres and themes.

Bedroom on the right at the ground floor is all about the sky with a cloud shaped ceiling in the bedroom, a cloud mirror in the bathrrom followed by sun rays type kind of terrazzo pattern on the walls.

11. What are the most unique features of this project?

Round Media room bed, catamaran Net in the upstairs living room, the bedhead that’s a bath tub, the juxtapposition of cylindrical/ cuboid guesthouse structure, the circular pool area deck.