April_1966 — Page 50

Teak windows from upper terrace; living room on right, hall on left

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tails. There was a danger that the de- sign would become too complicated.

Usually architects are restricted by what they regard as the inadequate or at least minimal funds available, but the opposite situation can be just as much of a difficulty and embarrass- ment. Where no restrictions are im- posed details and individual touches may run riot and engulf the design.

Simple Grouping

The architect's aim was to keep the lines of the building as simple and direct as possible, and to restrict the number of materials and finishes em- ployed so as to give a unity to the whole; to simplify all the components so they could be readily assimilated. He has also endeavoured, as far as possible, to keep a simplicity in the grouping and massing of the building. to provide the variety of spaces re- quired, interrelated but distinct, and vet maintain an overall wholeness of design.

The construction of the building is of reinforced concrete, for both the structural parts of the walls and the low-pitched roofs. Part of the house. on the side which runs along the shore, is cantilevered over the shore so that the edges of the terraces are directly above the natural shore yet do not themselves rest upon it or dis- turb it in any way.

In this way the house and the shore come together very cleanly. The house is put right to one side of the site and advantage is taken of the natural configuration without spoiling the naturalness of the shore, since there was no need to disturb it by

View over courtyard with bedroom wing on right, kitchen and garage on left

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Far East Architect & Builder April, 1966

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