Hikari House, designed by Pranala Associates, is a residential project located in Bandung, Indonesia. In a house where people spend most of their lives, layout plays a significant part in the design, providing a narrative between the connection and synergy among public, private and service areas.
Spanning an area of 422m2, Hikari House, which literally means “House of Light”, is designed to give users the experience of how natural lighting and time interact with architecture. The natural light that streams into the house will vary, not only by day, but throughout the year, following the movement of the sun towards the earth that changes constantly. In addition to natural lighting, air flow plays a role in this house. The flow is designed in the way the house ‘breathes’ from the terrace and living area towards the dining and garden.
Using the terrace house concept which creates a twist of the exterior and interior, set the flow which blurs the boundaries of indoor and outdoor of Hikari House. Emphasising the connection between outdoor and indoor, the pile that presents at the backyard is made at the same height with the eye level of the user who sits in the living room. Furthermore, with the additional void space that exists besides the dining room makes the indoor space more spacious when the partition glass is opened.
As the interior design is a unity and is inseparable with the architecture itself, the interior of this house is tied together by the elements such as architectural approach, natural lighting, artificial lighting, furniture, decorative accents, up to the landscape, all of which co-exist in harmony.
The façade of this house is facing towards the west, with a solid look that gives the user privacy and prevents the interior from the afternoon sunlight glare. The form and material of the house represent the idea of creating a house with low maintenance. Furthermore, the explicit usage of material such as exposed concrete, ulin wood (native variety of timber) , and steel bars used for the exterior, creates an impression of a modern tropical house.
Photos: Maria Wibowo
