Rumah Selasar, Ngaglik — 2023. Photograph: studio photography collaborator.
House
Rumah Selasar
The site and the problem
A long plot, 8 by 30 metres, with its short side facing west onto a neighbourhood street four metres wide. That shape forces two things that contradict each other: the entrance has to be on the west because that is the only access, while west is the side that should least be given over to habitable rooms in Yogyakarta.
Late afternoon sun on an unshaded wall lifts the surface temperature far above air temperature, and that heat is only released into the house at around eight in the evening — exactly when the occupants come home. The permitted height was two storeys, with a front setback of three metres from the plot boundary.
The clients arrived with a familiar request: living room at the front, main bedroom on the upper floor at the front so it could have a large window onto the street. We declined the second request and explained why with measurements rather than with taste.
Massing study
Four alternatives were made at concept stage, all on the same plot and the same floor area, so the comparison is genuinely like for like.
Alternative A— Ditolak
Rejected. A single mass gives the largest floor area, but the rear bedroom gets no cross ventilation.
Alternative B— Terpilih
Selected. Two masses with a 2.4 m passage between them give a north–south air path and two sides of opening for every bedroom.
Alternative C— Ditolak
Rejected. A stepped mass on the south side shades the southern neighbour’s whole yard through the afternoon.
Alternative D— Ditolak
Rejected. A single-storey front block brings the built area below what the client’s room schedule needs.
Design decisions
01
The mass is split in two, with an open passage between
Rather than one long block, the building is two blocks separated by a passage 2.4 metres wide under a translucent roof. That passage is what gives the project its name.
Its purpose is not visual: it is the air path that draws wind in from the north side of the plot and lets heat out upward through the roof opening.
02
The service zone becomes the buffer on the west side
Bathroom, laundry, wet kitchen, and stair are all placed against the west wall. Those rooms absorb the afternoon heat, while the living room and bedrooms sit on the east side and take the morning sun.
03
A two-storey perforated brick screen on the west elevation
A layer of perforated brick stands 60 cm in front of the solid wall, leaving an air cavity. It is that cavity which takes the heat, not the wall of the house.
Perforated brick was chosen because local builders can lay it without a specialist applicator, and it can be bought directly from a brickworks in Bantul.
04
The main bedroom moved to the east side of the upper floor
The large window stayed, but it faces the rear garden. The clients agreed once we showed them the shadow study for three in the afternoon in March and September.
05
Eaves of 120 cm along the whole west and north sides
The studio no longer draws eaves shallower than 90 cm. At 120 cm, the west wall of the upper floor stays shaded until half past four.
Working drawings
Plans, sections, and details from the working drawing set for this project. Annotations inside the drawings stay in Indonesian: the people reading them are on site.
Regulatory compliance
| Parameter | Provision | Used |
|---|---|---|
| KDB (building coverage) | max 60% | 45% |
| KLB (floor area ratio) | max 1.2 | 0.78 |
| KDH (green area) | min 20% | 31% |
| GSB (front setback) | 3 m from plot boundary | 3.5 m |
| Height | max 2 storeys | 2 storeys |
| Permit | PBG, house | processed in 9 weeks |
The provisions applied to this site in this year. Provisions differ between areas and can change. The abbreviations are the Indonesian regulatory terms and are kept as they are.
Permit processing time
9 weeks
Processing time at the authority is outside the studio’s control. We record the actual time for each project so that you have a real picture rather than a promise.
Existing condition
Construction
Dated progress photographs, in chronological order.
Built
What changed on site
The perforated bricks delivered were 4 mm off the sample dimension. The bond had to be redrawn on site with the foreman so that the vertical joints stayed true, and the top three courses were cut. We reissued the 1:20 detail mid-construction and kept it as an as-built drawing.
The planned underground water tank was cancelled after the soil sounding showed the water table sitting shallower than expected. The tank moved onto the service roof slab instead.
No project runs exactly as drawn.
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.
Credits
- Client
- A couple with one child, both working from home three days a week
- Structural engineer
- Independent practice, Yogyakarta
- MEP engineer
- Mechanical & electrical engineer
- Contractor
- Main contractor
- Photographer
- Studio photography collaborator
- Students on placement
- Two architecture students, named on the sheets they drew
Have a plot with a similar problem? Send us a brief.
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.