House at Esplanad

House at Esplanad

House at Esplanad

Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur
Completed 2016

House at Esplanad is a transformation of the typical suburb link house into a spacious sanctum for the dwelling architect. The primary approach was to make minimal changes via reconfiguration of walls and reshuffling of rooms throughout the house’s two-and-a-half storeys. Concurrently, the design intent was to establish its new domestic arrangement with a timeless yet functional material palette.

House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad

The internal planes are either removed, combined or sealed to fully optimised the required spaces as per brief. A new multipurpose room has taken over the original kitchen which was flipped and extended through the rear lawn. Thus, the private realm at ground level is as spacious as possible as the living, dining, the relocated kitchen and a new wet kitchen are in an open plan. A new timber deck occupies the remaining rear lawn, and is accessible from both wet kitchen and multipurpose room.

On the first floor, a luxurious master bedroom has been created by converting one of the front-facing bedrooms as a bathroom suite, the family area as its walk-in wardrobe and knocking down the existing toilet to fully expand the bedroom proper. One of the two other bedrooms on the same floor has been reorganised as a study, with windows peaking towards the timber deck below. The second floor is now occupied with two bedrooms, with the removal of an existing void to accommodate a new walk-in wardrobe.

House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad

While major changes are done to the walls and floor plates, changing the staircase’s finishes has done the trick to bind the spaces together. Its timber floor finish in contrast to its light wall and balustrade panels, defining the staircase as one ascends through its light-well effect.

The façade is prescribed with the construct of I-beams and steel structure, meshed fenestration and an equally extensive use of timber as ceiling panels and louvres. It is a modern composition tastefully done in tandem with the changes of intermediate rooms. Additionally, the depths and overhangs expressed on the elevation has given the house a signature of tropicality. The House at Esplanad has challenged the norm by giving more definition to the eclectic formation of its pre-existing conditions.

House at Esplanad
House at Esplanad