The Rubic Takes Nine-Box Form and Lets the House Breathe in Hot Industrial Area

Named after the Rubik's cube toys, the house has a nine-box form that can be interpreted as a subconscious reference to the feng shui Bagua map. It is a belief that cannot be replaced in the Chinese-Indonesian community. Hence, the challenge lay in how the design can accommodate and combine feng shui to form an atypical modern house with unique functions based on the whole family members and their living environment.

Located in the industrial area Cakung, the house is developed with minimum openings on the upper floor to avoid excessive heat. This idea comes up by observing the habits of people in the area. They tend to close their houses with blinds during the day and turn on the air conditioning all day long. Thus, the laser-cut aluminium sun shading panels on the second floor and minimal skylight on the roof level are implemented to keep the house cool whilst still well-lit.

Upon entering the building through the outdoor entrance stairway, an open laser-cut aluminium sun shading tunnel is present. The tunnel frames over a tree across the foyer to create an enclosed green view. The floating laser-cut aluminium panel also acts as a canopy that rests atop the carport beneath.

The heart of the house is located on the second floor. A living-dining-pantry area is designed to enhance a relaxing sensory experience. This area is connected to the swimming pool, enabling the whole family members to interact while enjoying themselves concurrently. The whole areas are then covered with a rectangular mass that is formed by a laser-cut sun-shading aluminum panel to foster privacy and thermal comfort during hot days.

Since the house has laser-cut aluminium sun shading panel coverage on the second floor, the living-dining-pantry area can be opened during the day without absorbing too much heat. The house is designed to work in hot climate by letting the building breathe throughout the day.

The sun shading panels draw shadows to explore deft forms that mediate the site’s sun rays descent and associate impacts on the interior ambiance.

The third floor contains three bedrooms and one master bedroom. This introverted house needs an inward vista. Thus, a vertical garden presents as the vista upon entering the third floor. The garden is the perfect complement to the house, adding shades, softness, and relaxing energy to the outdoor space and offering ample wind breeze to the third floor. This enclosed garden provides a mediated connection between the interior and the landscape.

The glass floor on the third floor not only provides circulation with elegance and modern form, but also acts as a traverse. It allows openness of communication that otherwise gets lost across most multi-level homes.

The upper mass of the house is conceived as a solid nine-box mass. Although it acts as a monolith mass, there are small and narrow operable vertical openings. Beside the solid wall functioning as a thermal comfort control, it also moderates a potential privacy loss from the houses across the street.

The minimal uniformed skylights are also designed to split the roof mass into nine through careful articulation. The intention is to enhance the spatial quality by using natural lighting that washes through the indoor area, yet still considering the fact that the house is located in a hot and humid area.

For the facade, the family opts for a simple and toned-down one. Thereby, a simple massing and limited palette on the facade ensures the house creates a minimal distraction in the neighborhood. Yet, the architecture needs to bring a bold contribution to its developing suburban fabrics and generates interest among people in the area towards residential architecture.