Rachel House

Rachel House is a contemporary villa that was designed to ensure an open environment for the family on ground level while maintaining their individual privacy on the rooms above. The cantilevered boxes features bedrooms that overlook into the central water courtyard that also becomes sun-shading overhangs on the ground level. Ensuring the utmost visual privacy and human wellness, green design strategies were adopted to provide the family with a comfortable living experience. The project aims to strike an intricate balance between privacy and social interaction while providing the functions of flexibility to sustain normal day to day life. Geometric blocks of different scales work together seamlessly on the facade. These staggered balcony blocks house the main bedrooms that are purposefully designed to overlook the central courtyard garden. The cantilevered balcony structure simultaneously acts as a sun-shading overhang for the ground floor terraces. Taking inspiration from nature - an earthy yet subtle color palette was proposed. The combination of the earth-colored wood with the natural grey granite creates a unique rhythm throughout the surface of the facade. Ensuring the utmost visual privacy and human wellness, green design strategies were adopted to provide the family with a comfortable living experience. Some of the rocks that were originally part of the site also are seen in the courtyard, making the landscaping more organic and natural. The courtyard of this project is derived from techniques used extensively in southern China. Large floor to ceiling windows assists tremendously with the ventilation of the spaces according to the weather conditions of the location with ample overhang in necessary places and even vertical walls on the facade for shielding against weather and sunlight.