Creating a strong indoor-outdoor connection in a home can have several benefits. In the tropics, an indoor-outdoor connection can have a significant impact on your home’s indoor environment.
An indoor-outdoor connection has long been a standard part of traditional homes in the tropics. Middle to upper-class homes would usually have several doors leading out to verandas or patios. They typically opened out to gardens or a view of the landscape. These openings were also a great way to increase natural ventilation and light. They also tend to make a room feel larger than it is.
You can create an indoor-outdoor connection in several ways. They include creating large openings, connecting interior and exterior rooms or embracing nature. Regardless of the method used, a successful indoor-outdoor relationship can enhance the experience in your home tremendously.
Here are ten ways to create a better indoor-outdoor connection for ideal tropical living.
Large Openings
Photo: Grant Pitcher | Tinderwood | Metropole Architects
Large, glazed openings are a big part of many modern homes. They are a significant characteristic of contemporary houses across the world.
In temperate regions, it is typical to see both fixed glazing or operable windows or doors.
However, in the tropics, ideally, they should be actual openings. Fixed or closed glazing will give you a visual connection to the outside. However, a physical door or window opening will allow natural ventilation and connect you with the sounds and scents of the outdoors. This creates a stronger connection.
Here are some ways to achieve this.
1. Wide, Tall Openings
Having a wide, tall, glazed window or door opening can create a greater sense of connection to the outside. The larger the window or door, the better the relationship.
We have all been in a room with a large wall with an average-sized window.
However, when you compare that to standing next to a wide opening that spans from floor to ceiling or, better yet, a double-storey height opening, it is vastly different.
The substantial opening gives the sense of there being no wall or enclosure.
2. Open-Up The Corners
Doors or windows that wrap around a corner of a room are a great way to create a sense of being outdoors. It is an excellent way of feeling immersed in the view.
The continuation of the opening around the corner creates a wider view angle. A window located on a straight wall has a limiting view because of the two ends. However, when the window wraps around a corner, your view angle is increased.
Having no columns or other supports in the corner creates an even more significant impact. However, this is a bigger construction challenge.
Corner windows or doors that open out to a fantastic view or garden can be a great addition to your home.
3. Open-Up Entire Walls
Opening an entire wall or multiple walls in a room can have an incredible impact on the space.
Large openings that extend from the floor to the ceiling and span from wall to wall creates the sense of being outdoor rooms themselves. Imagine having your living or dining rooms in a space that feels like a patio or balcony.
This is especially pleasant in tropical and sub-tropical climates.
Connecting Indoor and Outdoor Rooms
Outdoor living has always been a major part of traditional tropical houses.
In middle and upper-income homes, persons spent warm days sitting on their verandas. These outdoor spaces were typically off their main living or dining room. Hence, the veranda became an extension of those rooms.
Creating a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor rooms is a great way to blur that connection.
4. Maintain Similar Floor Levels
Maintaining a floor level that is the same or close to your interior floor can create a nice flow from interior to exterior.
However, this can sometimes be a touchy situation in the tropics. Some tropical countries experience torrential rainfall, which can lead to flooding. Hence, we recommend this where there is low to no likelihood of flooding happening in the area.
Also, it is a good idea to avoid doing this in areas that face the direction the rain comes from. This prevents driving rain from getting in under the door.
Having a roof over that door or exterior space is also ideal.
5. Carry Through Similar Finishes
Using similar colours and finishes in both the interior and exterior spaces can help tie them together. Hence, they can feel like an extension of each other.
Where walls and ceilings continue through on the other side of the door, it is nice to keep the same or similar finishes. However, this is not essential.
Where possible, floor finishes can extend to the exterior, provided they are suitable for exterior applications. Be careful not to use floor finishes outdoors that may cause slipping and other hazards when wet.
6. Extend Furniture Layout Outside
Arrange furniture in ways that make it an extension of the interior layout.
Arranging your furniture this way can make it easier to see your interior and exterior spaces as one large room rather than two smaller rooms. Hence, you can use both spaces together when you have larger gatherings, like friends over for games night.
It also encourages more use of the exterior space.
Embrace Nature
The affinity human beings have with nature is incredible.
Photo: Rungkit Charoenwat | Panoramic Villa | OfficeAT
Plants, water and natural daylight, and other natural elements have tremendous benefits on our psychological well-being. Having these natural elements around your home also has sustainable benefits.
Try embracing nature as much as possible. Here are some ways to do this.
7. Open To The Views
Stunning views from your home has a way of capturing attention. It is the thing that your friends talk about the most when discussing your home.
If your site has impressive views, having openings in the direction of the scenery is an excellent way to celebrate them.
8. Gardens
Photo: Mansyur Hasan | Trapezioma | Andyrahman Architect
Trees, plants and other vegetation in a garden is another way to enhance your home. Opening your home out to a garden creates an incredible feeling.
This is especially useful when there isn’t a view. It can also occur in a courtyard which will add vegetation in the middle of your home.
The movement of plants, birds and insects flying around in the garden is calming and a joy to watch.
9. Water
Water adds another layer of sensory connection with nature. The sound and sometimes smell of the water is very soothing.
We also love to see water. Lots with views of the ocean are some of the most sought-after properties out there. River or lakefront properties are also sought after for this reason. We long to be near large bodies of water.
But whether it is the ocean, river, waterfall, or just a small pond, the sight and sound of water can create a stronger connection with an outdoor area.
10. Daylight
They are many benefits of having daylight in your home or building. The movement and the change in daylight intensity give our bodies and minds a greater sense of connection with our environment.
Opening our rooms to outdoor areas bathed in sunlight can also help bring lots of indirect daylight into your home.
Conclusion
A strong indoor-outdoor connection has traditionally been an essential part of tropical architecture and living.
Having large openings like wide, tall floor to ceiling doors or windows can significantly impact your home.
Connecting indoor and outdoor spaces through finishes and furniture arrangements can help create seamless transitions between the rooms.
Incorporating natural elements from the outdoors has incredible benefits as well. Plants, trees, water and daylight, all have tremendous impacts on your home and your experience in it.
We are moving towards becoming more sustainable and using better design strategies for building tropical houses more suited for our future. As such, creating a strong indoor-outdoor connection is an essential part of this.
Featured image by Rungkit Charoenwat | Panoramic Villa | OfficeAT