Reading a plot before you buy it: six things you can check yourself
Six checks you can make yourself in a single afternoon visit, before the deposit is paid.
For clients
Architecture studio — Yogyakarta
Design begins with the site, not with a reference board.
Atelier Nara designs houses, renovations of older buildings, and small-scale commercial buildings for a humid tropical climate. We work from site study through to periodic supervision, and we write down the limits of each stage before the contract is signed.
Rumah Selasar, Ngaglik — 2023. Photograph: studio photography collaborator.
Selected work
Buildings that know where they stand
We start from what the client cannot choose: the path of the sun, the prevailing wind, the shape of the plot, the width of the road, the setback lines, and the neighbours who were already there. Most of the answer is in the site before we draw anything at all.
01
Climate first, style afterwards
The first decision in each of our projects is not the shape of the facade but the orientation of the mass, the depth of the eaves, and the path of cross ventilation.
02
Materials local builders can work with
We do not draw details that only a certified applicator from out of town can execute.
03
An Indonesian house has rooms no foreign style book contains
Plans taken from foreign magazines almost always lose the rooms that are used most here:
04
Demolition is not the first option
A building that already stands has already paid for its material, its energy, and its time. Tearing it down throws all of that away at once.
What we always check before drawing
KDB
Building coverage ratio
What percentage of the plot may be covered by building. It governs how far the building may spread.
KLB
Floor area ratio
Total floor area against plot area. It governs how many storeys make sense.
KDH
Green area ratio
The minimum area that must remain able to absorb water. Often forgotten, and often the reason a submission is returned.
GSB
Building setback line
The minimum distance from the plot boundary or road centre. It governs where the building may begin.
The figures on each project page are those that applied to that site in that year. Provisions differ between areas and can change. We always re-check the local detailed spatial plan at the feasibility study stage. The abbreviations are the Indonesian regulatory terms and are kept as they are, because the provisions themselves have no equivalent elsewhere.
Services
01
Brief Feasibility Study
A check of the zoning and regulatory limits on the plot, then a calculation of how much building can actually stand there.
02
Architectural Design, Full Service
Ten stages, from the first conversation to a post-occupancy visit six months after the house is lived in.
03
Design to Construction Documents (No Supervision)
The work stops once the working drawings and permit documents are handed over. We set out the risks of that openly on this page.
04
Renovation & Adaptive Reuse
Survey of the existing building, as-built drawings, structural inspection, then a calculation of the footprint allowance still left.
05
Architectural Interior
The first question is whether the building may be cut into, not what colour to use.
06
PBG Permit Support
Preparation of the technical design documents, filing, and support through to approval being issued.
07
Periodic Site Supervision
Scheduled visits during construction, written illustrated reports, and answers to questions from site.
Studio notes
Why we no longer draw eaves shallower than 90 cm
It began with a 2018 project whose west wall stayed damp, and the measurements we took ourselves afterwards.
Field notes
Three things almost always differ between the drawings and the site
Material dimension tolerances, mechanical routes invisible in old building drawings, and differences in workmanship between builders on the same task.
Field notes
Client comments
We were actually disappointed when we were asked to move the main bedroom to the back. After a year of living here, it is the most comfortable room in the house. If they had done what we wanted, we would have two air conditioners in there by now.
What I remember is that our first meeting spent two hours on where the smoke goes. I thought architects only talked about appearances. It turns out that is why my neighbours have never once complained.
We asked for three identical units to save money. They said it was possible, but the middle one would be hard to sell, and they explained why. In the end the middle unit got a void. That was the first one to sell.
This was my grandmother’s house. What I was most afraid of was that it would end up looking entirely new. What I value is that the added part was deliberately made to look different, so the old house can still be read.
Tell us about your site
Send us the location, the plot area, and the rooms you need. We reply within two working days with an initial assessment — including if we think another practice would serve your project better.
We take on a maximum of six new design projects a year. Replies during working hours, Monday to Friday.