Rumah Tumbuh Wedomartani, Ngemplak — phase 1, 2021. Photograph: studio photography collaborator.
House
Rumah Tumbuh Wedomartani
Phase one was completed in 2021 and has been lived in since. The construction documents for phase two have been delivered and not yet built. The photographs on this page show phase one as it is, not an impression of the completed whole.
The site and the problem
The client had a plot of 7.5 by 20 metres and needed four bedrooms, but the budget covered about half of that. The route most often taken in this situation is to build the whole thing at reduced quality. The result is a house that is finished but leaking within three years.
A five-metre neighbourhood road on the south side, a three-metre setback, a two-storey height limit. Nothing about the site was difficult; what was difficult was the timescale — the family would live in phase one for five to eight years.
Massing study
Three alternatives were tested against an unusual question: how does this house look during the five years before phase two arrives.
Alternative A— Ditolak
Rejected. A single full storey fits the budget but closes off any phase two without taking the roof off.
Alternative B— Terpilih
Selected. Phase one is single storey on a two-storey structure; phase two is drawn as a dashed line and built later without demolition.
Alternative C— Ditolak
Rejected. Building the whole area on one floor meets the brief but takes the green area to its limit and uses up the garden.
Design decisions
01
The phase two structure was drawn and built during phase one
Columns, foundations, and starter bars for the upper floor went in at the beginning. Adding them later means breaking out floor, roof, and part of the walls, at a far higher cost than installing them now.
02
The phase one roof was designed to be taken down cleanly
The light-gauge steel frame is bolted rather than welded, so it can be dismantled. The roof tiles can be reused in phase two.
03
Pipe and cable routes for the upper floor are already cast in
Including sleeves through the slab, water points, and cable runs terminating in closed boxes. No wall will need to be broken out later.
04
Phase one still has to feel finished, not like a building on hold
This is the decision most often skipped. Phase one was given a complete elevation, a finished veranda, and a finished garden.
That family will live there for five to eight years, and five years is not a length of time worth spending inside a half-built house.
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% (90 m²) | 72 m² |
| KLB (floor area ratio) | max 1.2 | 0.48 in phase 1; 0.92 planned |
| KDH (green area) | min 20% | 34% |
| GSB (front setback) | 3 m from plot boundary | 3 m |
| Height | max 2 storeys | 1 storey built |
| Permit | PBG for the two-storey scheme | processed in 5 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
5 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 starter bars projecting above the phase one columns had to be protected while the house was occupied. A PVC sleeve that was not in the original drawing was added after the first week, and it entered the as-built drawings as revision R1.
The phase two frontage was set back 1.2 metres from the phase one frontage after an elevation study showed that without the setback, phase one would read as the part left behind rather than as a complete piece.
No project runs exactly as drawn.
Credits
- Client
- A young family whose budget covered only half the plan
- Structural engineer
- Independent practice, Yogyakarta
- Contractor
- Main contractor
- Photographer
- Studio photography collaborator
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.