A home is a sanctuary. We've picked five modern resort-style homes in Malaysia that embody peacefulness and inspire calm.

Seamless indoor-outdoor living and sleek modern lines, these five homes gloriously embody all the advantages of living in a modern resort home.

1. A compact urban resort home in USJ, Selangor

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Photo 1 of 4 Photos: Lawrence Choo
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Located in Grandville USJ One, this urban resort-style home was built by NDC Design on a compact site for a young family of four. The site was surrounded by other dwellings but had one side surrounded by mature trees with an almost uninterrupted view of the neighbourhood.

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The main inspiration came from the idea of having a resort home despite living in the city. The lap pool thus became the key feature of the house where the architects arranged all the main internal spaces parallel to the rectilinear lap pool to overlook it and the landscape beyond.

Some rooms were deliberately placed close to the water edge to have a more intimate relationship with the water, with some hovering above it as though floating above, and some set off from the body of water to allow space for a semi-outdoor terrace. 

Read more here.

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2. An eco-retreat in Serendah, Selangor

Designed by Choon Sin Ho, one of the founding architects of A3 Projects, for her parents, this serene eco-retreat is located in the sleepy town of Serendah in Hulu Selangor.

Since her parents bought the land in 1995, they had planted it with a profusion of trees and plants. As the architect had recently returned from working overseas, Ho took on designing a new house for her parents, who had always wanted a retreat adjoining their orchard.

 

Tatler Asia
Tatler Asia

The Japanese principles of shakkei (borrowed landscape) were observed where the house was conceived as an extension of the landscape. To this end, a two-storey bungalow was built where the first floor consists of a car porch, open-plan living/kitchen/dining with a generous external verandah and one en-suite master bedroom with an exterior staircase that leads to the rooftop.

The spatial arrangement responds to sun orientation, maximises views of the outside nature, and has a balanced composition of walls and openings for cross ventilation. Deep open verandahs coupled with matured trees on the west side provide perfect natural shading to the house, while a clerestory skylight allows diffused daylight into the main living spaces.

Read more here.

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3. A corner terrace home in Johor Bahru

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Photo 1 of 3 Photos: Lawrence Choo
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Once an ordinary terrace corner lot set in a nondescript neighbourhood in Johor Bahru, Rice Design transformed it from one with poor ventilation and an outdated structure to a sleek, modern home. 

To this end, the designers modified existing layouts into open-plan spaces and large picture windows. These alterations multiplied natural light entering the home and improved air circulation.

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Another significant structural change was raising the ceilings, which improved air circulation and enhanced the feeling of well-being in the home. The ample open space means good air circulation to ensure that the residence remains cool throughout the days and nights.

Connecting the interior spaces to nature was another crucial consideration in the overall design concept. It was introduced by using natural materials and materials that can be readily recycled and also have lots of greenery inside to freshen up the space. 

Read more here.

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4. A "wonky" terrace house n Kuala Lumpur

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Photo 1 of 3 Photos: Lin Ho
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Nicknamed Wonky Woo for its original dilapidated state, this terrace in Taman Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur, was overhauled by Tony Heneberry of Two’s Company for a British ex-pat couple into a home which makes the most of the views of the surrounding hilly landscape. 

The house had a total build-up area of about 3,000 sq ft on four split levels, so it is, in effect, a two-storey house with the front half split from the rear and sitting about 5ft higher than the rear. Heneberry had the house stripped back to its skeleton and enlarged in the front and back with a retaining wall structure to raise the slope to the rear, into which was built a plunge pool with a home workshop underneath.

It was a particularly long block with a very open aspect to the rear. It offered a huge opportunity to give this space a sense of light and distance that is usually hard to achieve in an intermediate link house.

Hence the design goal became about how to maximise these features while designing out the poor aspect of the front and improving the light and airflow into a long narrow house. Framing the views of the hills in the distance and creating transitions and visual connection to these views with the landscape features was also part of the design thinking from the outset.

Read more here.

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5. A multi-generational home in Muar, Johor

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Photo 1 of 2 Photos: David Yeow
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Located in a large three-storey bungalow in Muar, Johor, with approximately 10,000 sq ft of interior space and 4,000 sq ft of the courtyard area, S/LAB 10 was commissioned to create a multi-generational family home for the family to enjoy and especially the client's father who was recovering from an accident.

To improve the overall layout, the designers shuffled the layout, loosened the space and generated a more open space that they termed 'breathing space' by connecting the indoors and outdoors.

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Tatler Asia

The designer incorporated natural materials such as marble, granite, wood, and timber slabs to enhance this 'breathing space'.

Natural wood veneer was used in the common areas, and the warm hues juxtaposed deftly against the marble. A marble staircase pierces through all three floors and appears like a seamless swathe of stone, while the kitchen island consists of 48 pieces of marble layered over each other; each piece was hand-cut and installed individually. 

Read more here.

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