Aqua

Project Data

Project Name	Aqua
Location	Seminyak, Kuta, Bali
Status	Completed
Expected Completion	-
Site Area	850m2
Gross Floor Area	764m2
Number of Rooms	4 bedrooms
Building Height
Client/Owner	Andrew Britton
Architecture Firm	GFAB
Principal Architect	Gary Fell
Main Contractor	Yobel Construction & Building Supplies
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer	JdeR Building Service Consultant
Civil & Structural Engineer	Catur Mitra Utama
Images/Photos	Available

Questions

1. Please explain the design brief for the project.

This villa was designed as an urban rental property specifically tailored to the Bali party market. This is in a densely built up area with direct neighbours all around so sound insulation and privacy were very important. The villa was to be like an oasis in the city. The façade is unprepossessing yet when you enter the villa unfolds with a 25 meter swimming pool, roof terraces and gardens, spaces for groups and privacy for individuals. We designed all the accommodation to the perimeter walls to allow a feeling of space and garden within. Upon entry you feel totally secluded from your environs.

2. Does your project demonstrate efficiency in at least one or a combination of the following aspects? If so please support with quantitative figures and results.
• Energy

We have used a lot of water to encourage air circulation all through the villa. We have planted a Ficus tree that will eventually shade the bedroom roofs totally. We have the roof pond that keeps the living room cool by reflecting the suns rays off the roof.

• Land or Site (i.e. sensitive to nature/surroundings)

We used the scale of the street to determine the scale of the building and treated the façade with planted areas and timber and local stone to soften and blend with the surroundings.

• Materials

Think this is a vital responsibility for all architects to reduce the carbon foot print of all we create, and something Gfab take very seriously. We always select local materials from the region we build in, here we used Sala Gadang a flint like stone which we cut in a square format as a wall cladding. To the external façade we used Paras Bukit from the south of Bali, commonly crushed and used as land fill again we used in a random square cut applied to walls. They additionally provide a sound and thermal insulation.

3. What makes your design unique?

The use of nature in an urban villa. We have used a roof pond to passively cool the villa below so that no air conditioning is needed. All of the bedrooms have a shower garden, all rooms aspect to landscape. We have used nature to mask and camouflage and to cool the building. I think this gives this urban villa a tranquillity that makes it so popular.

4. What constraints (in terms of site, budget, etc.) were imposed on the project? How did you overcome those constraints? What design features highlight those efforts?

Privacy in an urban environment when the villa is open largely, the living and dining areas have no walls and most of the spaces are external. Rather than dense walls we have used planting and trellising to allow air flow yet to visually block the outside world.

We take from local vernaculars notions of how to deal with weather extremes, by having deep roof overhangs, which provide shade and rain protection.