Villa Suweta

Bali, Indonesia // 2022 // role: Project Architect // Rowland Sauls Architecture

Fred and Mandy Brauer are two of the most interesting people I know. They have lived and worked all over the world and continue to stay involved with their local Balinese community through various charities on the island. Eleven years ago, they started building a house which was intended to be their private residence. As it happened, the project was stalled and set aside halfway through construction. Since then, a concrete shell with no roof has sat patiently to be completed.

When they brought me to the site, they told me that we can keep everything, or we can lose everything and start over; the priority was to create something really special. The existing shell had an interesting character to it, one that lent itself to asymmetry and held elements of De Stijl, but it lacked warmth. My challenge was to make the structure feel like an appropriate fixture to the surrounding lush jungle landscape.

To bridge the gap between modernism and the natural world, I employed some traditional Japanese Modernism design elements, namely shou sugi ban scorched black wood mixed with natural wood, black steel, and weathering steel. Custom wardrobes, kitchen cabinetry, doors, and furniture carry these architectural elements throughout the interiors, alternating between black shou sugi ban wood and natural warm wood tones.

The property features a nine-meter (30ft) double height skylit ceiling, with glass floors to carry natural light into the kitchen. The main house holds four suites, two living rooms, and a twelve-person dining nook while the guest house has one suite, a kitchenette, and a living room. A water slide connects the jacuzzi spa on the upper terrace to the ten-meter swimming pool overlooking the jungle and river valley below.