Saso Architecture has completed a 70 m² house in Bekasi, West Java, about 40 minutes drive from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta. Surrounded by high-density houses with 6-meter wide street at the east and south of the site. Called the Genteng House, it stands on the site of an old house. The old house was abandoned, for most of its materials were badly broken, a slight renovation wouldn’t help. 
Located in a high-temperature climate where daily temperature can reach up to 38°C, the architects, Andi Subagio and Thea Nothania, created a secondary skin façade, reducing the heat entering the building – even using some used materials from the old house. By arranging the roof tiles in a certain order, we created a second skin that protects the large opening behind it while also becoming a special aesthetical element for both exterior and interior.
This façade element is the most dominant element in our exterior design. But it plays an even bigger role in the interior, where it gives a stunning effect and is exposed by large glass windows. At certain time of the day, sunlight penetrates the façade and creates some patterns on the interior wall. Since the residents of this house are a young family of three, comprising a couple and their newborn baby, this house is meant to also grow with them. The currently finished construction is the first phase, and the fully developed phase of this project will be a two-storey house with one master bedroom and two kids’ bedrooms. 
The additional two bedrooms will be upstairs with one additional bathroom and the stairs will be above the existing inner court. All structural and supporting works for this fully developed phase have already been done in the first phase. With this scheme, the owner will still be able to live inside the house comfortably even during the renovation.
Not just the architecture, the furniture too was designed to grow with the owner. The dining table which also serves as the preparation table is extendable, to contain 5 extra chairs. Being in the same space with the living room, make the dining area and the kitchen the core of the house. With fewer walls arrangement, the small house feels more spacious.
Photos: Gluck Photo Studio
