It’s no surprise that ocean-frontages are a prized commodity in Bali. Whilst Uluwatu – a windswept strip of dizzyingly high cliffs on the island’s southern corner – is something of an open secret, it still astonishes that this six bedroom villa stakes such an incredible swathe of sky and sea.
The client’s brief to the Cape Town-based studio SAOTA was for a family vacation home that took advantage not just of the clifftop views, but that also had a seamless indoor-outdoor connection.
The architects say the overriding challenge here was to avoid obvious Balinese tropes whilst ‘striving to drive a regional and contextualised response. In effect, we looked to reimagine traditional clichés.’
The starting point was the roof, an immense swathe of concrete whose thin silhouette and textured overhangs anchor the roaming eye and unify various living spaces and internal courtyards, from which the bedrooms radiate. ‘We wanted the roof to maintain a raw and elegant form which could soar over the cliff while retaining weight, and hold the courtyard. One of the challenges was how to implement this and still make it feel effortless.’
Resolution came partly through high ceilings, the liberal spread of high windows, and strategically placed voids in walls and ceilings. The passage of light, too, creates a sense of internal movement, the porous nature of the layout allowing the vertiginous cliff views to peek in and out as one progresses through the house, and through shade and light.
The effect is a subtle sense of fragmentation which the architects say ‘was partly inspired by the way in which rocky ruins are, over time, reclaimed by the landscape and come to seem almost as if they are a part of it.’
SAOTA also took charge of the interiors, dressing both indoor and outdoor spaces in a palette of modernist lines, including Jean Nouvel shelves, Gio Ponti armchairs, FLOS lamps and mesh furniture by Patricia Urquiola.
INFORMATION
-
First look – Bottega Veneta and Flos release a special edition of the Model 600Gino Sarfatti’s fan favourite from 1966 is born again with Bottega Veneta’s signature treatments gracing its leather base
-
We stepped inside the Stedelijk Museum's newest addition in AmsterdamAmsterdam's Stedelijk Museum has unveiled its latest addition, the brand-new Don Quixote Sculpture Hall by Paul Cournet of Rotterdam creative agency Cloud
-
On a sloped Los Angeles site, a cascade of green 'boxes' offers inside outside livingUnStack, a house by FreelandBuck, is a cascading series of bright green volumes, with mountain views
-
Bali welcomes Tri Hita Karana Tower, a hybrid sound and vision centrepieceTri Hita Karana Tower is launching at Bali's Nuanu City; designed by Arthur Mamou-Mani, it’s a new hybrid art-AI architectural landmark for the island
-
This Bali villa flies the flag for contemporary bamboo architectureA Bali villa fusing traditional craftsmanship with contemporary vision by design studio Ibuku and Earth Lines Architects demonstrates the versatility of bamboo
-
Building with bamboo: In Bali, designer, Elora Hardy, shares her tips and experienceBamboo architecture can be powerful and sustainable; here, we talk to Ibuku's Elora Hardy, who shares her tips, thoughts and experience in working with the material in Bali
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
Sun-drenched Los Angeles houses: modernism to minimalismFrom modernist residences to riveting renovations and new-build contemporary homes, we tour some of the finest Los Angeles houses under the Californian sun
-
A Bali house balances the island’s rhythms, traditions and cultureIn this Bali house, a highly collaborative, culture-led approach forms the foundations for a pitch-perfect holiday retreat, designed for a Scandinavian family
-
All hail the power of concrete architecture‘Concrete Architecture’ surveys more than a century’s worth of the world’s most influential buildings using the material, from brutalist memorials to sculptural apartment blocks
-
Three Object Apartment embraces raw concrete honesty in the heart of AthensThree Object Apartment by DeMachinas is a raw concrete home in Athens, which confidently celebrates its modernist bones
