Splow House: An Internationally Awarded House by Indonesia

Splow house, which stands for Split-Grow House, is a house built in Tebet, South Jakarta. This house is the work of Delution Architects. Having the concept of a house that can grow, it is a challenge to design a house that is comfortable to live in with an area of 120 square meters with a limited budget.

With a width of 6 meters and a length of 15 meters, the house is designed to get natural lighting and air circulation from outside which will certainly save energy from the use of lights and air conditioning. The small area is not a problem to have the required space at a limited cost. This house allows for additional space in the future when the homeowner has more budget.

The house, which looks like two floors, has three levels inside. Through its split concept, each floor counts as half which is considered a mezzanine. Thus, there are five mezzanine floors in the house. Each floor is connected with stairs and voids that serve as a source for natural lighting and air circulation. From these voids, people on each floor can also communicate with each other from different floors.

On the first floor mezzanine, there is a dining area and an open kitchen. This room is also connected to the guest bedroom and bathroom. The floor is designed with gray marble tiles. The furniture is designed with lightwood material. The entire room has white walls to maximize the lighting in the room.

There are some unique features in this room such as the folding table in the dining area that allows for a longer table. Storage shelves are found next to the stairs and also on the steps. Yep! The concrete stairs also have retractable shelves that provide more space for storage.

The second mezzanine floor is the first floor one is presented with when visiting the house. There is a living room that is also a reading room in the corner. There is also a folding glass window to the side yard.

Then for the third mezzanine floor, there is a child's bedroom and bathroom. It is also equipped with a corridor in front of the room door. So it can also be used as a relaxing area.

The bathroom for the children's floor is equipped with a sink, toilet and shower area. The size of the bathroom is not small and not too big. The materials in the bathroom provide a cold and serene atmosphere. Unlike the materials outside the room. The shape of the glass and sink is so unique and unusual. Exhaust fans are also used in the room for air circulation.

Moving up to the next floor, the master bedroom is located in this area. There is still a corridor in front of the room that is used to place tables and shelves. The corridor does function as a public circulation area, connecting each floor.

The large window on the front facade of the house is one of the cool views in the room. It brightens up the bedroom. Equipped with white and gray curtains. There is also a small air vent on the side wall of the room. In this room there is also a main bathroom.

This bathroom is different from the other bathrooms in the house. Black tiles on the floor and also a glass wall overlooking the indoor clothes storage closet area. It does seem open but since this is the master bedroom which is the privacy area of both parents, it will not be a problem.

Finally, we came to the top floor. This floor is used as the maid's bedroom and also the washing and drying area. The bedroom and bathroom are smaller than the others. Also visible from the corridor are windows and vents on the upper wall of the house.

The picture above shows the air and light circulation scheme of the house. The vents as well as the doors and windows in the house are the solution for cross-ventilation.

The one-meter-wide courtyard located on the side of the house is very helpful for air exchange so that the house is cooler. In addition, this area also functions as a place to place water pumps, bicycles and other equipment, and also provides access for servants into the house. In this courtyard, the architect designed the floor base with enough biopores (water holes) to avoid flooding on the lowest mezzanine floor because the floor height is low compared to the road outside the house.

Back to the front of the house. The floor of the master bedroom is made to float with a 2.5 meter wide cantilever system. So that this area can cover the terrace area and vehicle parking in front of it. The uniqueness of the front facade is also found in the glass placed on the lower wall of the house. The glass is designed so that people who are in the dining room or kitchen can know people who come to the house by looking at the glass. This is also an alternative to natural lighting in the house.

The house that looks small and quite spacious inside is not only comfortable but also managed to get an international award. Delution Architect through its work, the splow house, won the 2017 International Architizer A+ Awards in the Public Choice category of Architecture and Small Residences.

Architizer A+ Awards itself is an international award that not only involves the architectural community, but also fashion, publishing, product design, real estate development, and technology from around the world. As one of the nominees from Indonesia and competitors from all over the world, of course, these young architects managed to make the country proud.

Source: Splow House | News Winning Award | Delution Architect