Simply called "House at the Corner", this detached dwelling with a basement and attic distils our design approach to tropical living. Embracing the openness of the raised corner plot, the house draws extended views of the surroundings indoors, enlarging the sense of space. Its simple form is carefully shaped and proportioned to frame garden views, capture prevailing winds, and create spaces of varied atmospheres.

The House at the Corner occupies an elevated plot that opens toward its surroundings on two sides, offering unobstructed vistas into the distance. From the outset, we embraced the site’s inherent openness as the defining spatial quality of the residence.   

The ground floor—the main social gathering space—was conceived as a living room within a garden. Opening diagonally toward the corner, the sheltered interior extends seamlessly into the landscape. Deep eaves frame a horizontal composition: the pool and lush garden in the foreground, with distant tree canopies forming a borrowed backdrop.

To accommodate the complex requirements of a three-generation family, the house integrates a basement, second floor and attic. Despite its multiple levels, we maintained a sense of connectedness by extending the concept of openness vertically through the section of the house.

The house geometry is carefully composed of two interlocking L-shape volumes and a cube; the voids produced between them become defining spaces of the house, extending outward horizontally while establishing vertical connections. An air well links the basement to the ground floor, while a soaring central void, capped by a skylight, connects the upper floors.

The arrival sequence reinforces this narrative of openness and release. Entry occurs at the softly-lit basement through a large sliding door and screen, which gradually reveals a bonsai tree set within a koi pond, illuminated naturally from the air well above. This contemplative threshold prepares visitors for the bright, expansive living spaces above.

Vertical slatted exterior screens modulate light and privacy across the upper levels. The material palette is restrained, with grey tiles complementing light-hued oak throughout the house. Ultimately, the architecture is distilled to a simple composition of solids and voids that extends the openness of the site deep into the interior.