Pererenan House Brings Bali’s Tropical Landscape Inside

Designed by: Alexis Dornier.

Location: Pererenan, Bali, Indonesia | Latitude: 8.63815˚ S

Pererenan, Bali has impressive landscapes. This Pererenan house creates seamless connections to the beautiful tropical landscape in Bali.

Alexis Dornier is the architect of the River House.

House Location, Site and Climate

The River House is in Pererenan, Bali, Indonesia.

At 8.63815˚ S latitude Pererenan, Bali is in a tropical region. It is south of the equator.

The climate is hot and humid, with an average annual temperature of about 25˚ celsius. Also, it rains a lot in Pererenan and has a short dry season.

Photo: KIE

The site is next to a lush rice field and a beautiful landscape.

In addition, River House gets its name from the Sungai river that runs west of the property. There is also a one-bedroom house on the lot called River Studio.

House Design Brief

The River House is a five (5) bedroom house. It is a residential home. However, it is also a rental property for part of the year.

It is a 1,440 m2 or 15,500 sq. ft. home with a roof terrace. The completion date of the home was in 2019.

House Design Approach

The house has an upper floor that reads like a solid volume that floats over the public spaces on the ground floor below.

Photo: KIE

“Private spaces are grouped into a cubistic volume that seemingly hovers above the living rooms and the garden of the premises.”
– Alexis Dornier

House Design Layout

The street to access the property is from the east of the lot.

Public spaces are on the ground floor, and the top floor has private rooms.

As you enter the site, you move through a garden before entering the home.

The foyer is on an intermediate level. This middle floor has a TV room, laundry, office and service quarters.

Down the stairs is the ground floor. This floor has the living and dining rooms. These rooms are open plan and are also double-height spaces. In addition, a kitchen and powder room are also on this floor.

The upper floor has five bedrooms, each with its bathroom. These include a guest bedroom and a master bedroom.

There is also an outdoor bathtub on the balcony outside the master bathroom.

A long pool runs adjacent to the rice fields.

“An expansive pool forms a strong vector into the adjacent rice field – a graphic juxtaposition to the first floor’s horizontal configuration.”
– Alexis Dornier

Connecting Home Interior with Tropical Landscape

Connecting the interior of a home with the exterior landscape can create a fantastic experience.

River House does just that.

“The continuation of Bali’s beautiful landscape into the inside of the building is one of our key credos in architectural design for the River House.”
– Alexis Dornier

Firstly, the architects integrate the house into the existing slope of the land. The natural sloping topography falls from the front to the back of the site.

“…we embedded the existing topography and used it as the over-arching feature for a three-dimensional experience.”
– Alexis Dornier

A lush, tropical garden around the house extends to the surrounding landscape.

“A palm tree forest, banana and bodhi trees surround the building and make it part of the silhouette consisting of rolling hills and lush rice fields.”
– Alexis Dornier

Photo: KIE

In addition, views from the bedrooms on the top floor capture sunsets from above the coconut trees.

This Pererenan house creates biophilic connections with the tropical landscape and nature throughout the home.

Glazed Sliding and Bifold Doors Create Ultimate Transparency

An essential part of creating a solid connection between indoors and outdoors is having lots of transparency.

When you are in a room with more opaque walls than transparent windows and doors, you feel more separated from the outside. However, having more glass or free openings than walls creates a better relationship with the exterior.

River House has a lot of glazed openings that surround the home.

Photo: KIE

The living, dining and other rooms on the ground floor open out to the surrounding landscape via large glazed openings. In addition, these openings are mostly glass bifold and sliding doors. They create a seamless relationship with the environment outside.

Bedrooms on the upper floor also have large glass sliding doors. The glazing stretches wall to wall and floor to ceiling, maximising the transparent opening.

In addition, most of these openings are operable, as they open and close. Hence, these large sliding and bifold doors allow ample natural ventilation when they are open. The large openings on multiple sides of the rooms promote air cross-ventilating across a space.

Slatted Timber Screens Create A Unique Appearance and Experience

The upper floor uses slatted timber screens around parts of the exterior.

“This changes the scale of the arrangement into a more abstract object, rather than a traditional home with windows.”
– Alexis Dornier

These slatted wood screens occur outside of some of the bedroom walls and corridors connecting the bedrooms. These vertical wood slats have a small spacing. Hence they offer sun shading to the walls of the bedrooms. This technique is a passive strategy that will help keep the rooms cool.

Photo: KIE

Another fascinating feature of the timber-slatted screens occurs in the passages and corridors.

On the upper level, they create some semi-outdoor spaces. That is because the screens are open to the exterior. The slats are close enough to each other to provide privacy and protection.

However, these wood screens also allow natural ventilation through. This arrangement offers an exciting perspective and atmosphere when moving through these corridors.

This incredible feature offers a unique and authentic tropical experience from within the home.

House Construction and Materials

This house uses a lot of natural materials and finishes that are reminiscent of traditional Bali homes. However, the use of these materials creates a stunning modern dwelling.

“We used reclaimed timber and locally sourced sandstone to create surfaces and textures that evoke a sense of timelessness, firmness and reference back to Bali’s vernacular building culture.”
– Alexis Dornier

Photo: KIE

Alexis Dornier also uses a lot of glass openings with black frames that almost disappear. The glass creates visual connections with the natural environment outside. These views of the exterior landscape blend well with the materials.

The bedrooms also combine glazed openings with sandstone walls, wood floors, and ceilings.

“Bedrooms are carefully furnished, and the natural stone finishes make each of those spaces for retreat and recreation.”
– Alexis Dornier

The house uses high-quality materials with various natural textures to create a beautiful and modern tropical home.

Conclusion

The River House is a stunning home that embraces the beautiful natural landscape surrounding it. This Pererenan house sits perfectly in its tropical landscape.

Its large glass openings and slatted wood screens create a home that integrates well with the outdoor environment. In addition, the sliding and bifold doors and screens provide ample natural ventilation and solar shade.

These design principles make it a fantastic tropical house in beautiful Bali.