Poolside living takes on a whole new dimension in this home

Architect: ADND

From the architect: Second homes are about creating an oasis from the hectic pace of urban city life. A site blessed with vegetation and seasonal lake provided the perfect setting for this project. 

At the entrance were clumps of trees that provided for a grand entry and also created just the necessary buffer for the house from the main street. The driveway snaked its way past the canopy of trees to the entrance/arrival court where you are received by a curved stone wall.

Designing in the tropics is about creating the right balance of open and closed spaces. The sun and other elements can be unforgiving in these conditions.

The house has been designed in clusters held together with a strong 'spine' with most of the facilities addressing the pool in the centre of the house. 

The living-dining pavilion is a glass box, which has a deck extension onto the pool on one side and private lawn on the other side bound by the arrival court and curved stone wall. This court is further enhanced with a water body fed by a gargoyle that emerges from the curved wall.

The guest pavilion, opposite the living pavilion, houses 4 bedrooms with attached toilets. The pool bar and outdoor dining flanks one end of the pool while three spouts edge the other end. 

Directly above the outdoor dining is the master bedroom with its attached bathroom. The plunge pool attached to this room is created as a getaway for the client and overlooks the lake.

The children's room is designed as a concept of box within a box and is cantilevered. The wooden box sits inside the glass box. At the far end of the pool is the Jacuzzi and sunken seating which overlook the main lawn and tennis court at the end of the property. The games pavilion is adjacent to the Jacuzzi area.

The furniture has been kept aesthetically appealing but practical and low maintenance. The surfaces are made to withstand the severity of the climate. The use of natural stone, natural wood and LED lighting allows the bungalow to be endorsed as eco-friendly.

Our design process is about creating moments – elemental and episodically unfolding. The circulation within the house and spaces between functions need to follow a sequence of activity. The volume of spaces is again defined by the function.

The large open spaces, fluidity and transparency between spaces, the idea of natural landscape interspersed with built form are all metaphorical.

Story by: Trends

Photography by: Sebastian Zachariah