Cover An evening view of the interior of the Lift House in Bandung, Indonesia by Pranala Associates and Christopher Tan Studio from the garden, framed by a sculptural moringa tree and evoking an oasis in the middle of a dense urban neighbourhood
An evening view of the interior of the Lift House in Bandung, Indonesia by Pranala Associates and Christopher Tan Studio from the garden, framed by a sculptural moringa tree and evoking an oasis in the middle of a dense urban neighbourhood
1 / 1
In a busy urban neighbourhood in Bandung, Indonesia, Pranala Associates lifts the private rooms and lets a garden take the ground floor to create a stylish sanctuary for a young family
Bandung, the capital of Indonesia’s West Java province, was nicknamed Parijs van Java (the Paris of Java) in Dutch colonial times for a reason. Surrounded by mountains, it was originally planned as a leisure- and administrative-oriented city with a neat, nearly symmetrical plan and residential zones populated with beautiful art deco residences built for colonial officials, plantation owners and business elites.
That was a century ago. Today’s Bandung, hailed as a UNESCO City of Design, is a bustling hub for creative higher learning, hosting some of the country’s best universities and has, for better or worse, developed into dense urban areas with virtually unchecked speed.
The Lift House stands in one of these neighbourhoods, close to the city’s railway station and Citepus River. It occupies two plots, roughly 8,600 sq ft combined, originally earmarked for an apartment block that was never built, plus an additional triangular sliver from adjacent public park. With an architectural shell by Pranala Associates and interior design by the firm and Christopher Tan Studio, the house responds to that irregular geometry directly rather than smoothing it over.
In case you missed it: A Good Class Bungalow in Singapore’s District 10, a microcosm of nature articulated as five pavilions
Above From the mezzanine, the Bandung home’s living room and garden below read as one uninterrupted volume
From the mezzanine, the Bandung home’s living room and garden below read as one uninterrupted volume
1 / 1
Above An aerial view showing how the concrete volumes step back on each level and the rooftop garden bridges the second storey and the timber-screened structure below
An aerial view showing how the concrete volumes step back on each level and the rooftop garden bridges the second storey and the timber-screened structure below
1 / 1
Responding to the owner’s dense design brief, which included rooms for his growing young family as well as a home office for his business, architect Erick Laurentius Sugiharto, co-founder and design development director of Pranala Associates, lifted the private rooms upwards, freeing the ground floor entirely for a garden-immersed living space.
“I would like to show my client that even within a limited footprint that includes living spaces and home office, you can still experience a tranquil haven inside,” he shares. The result is a home that reads as an introverted volume from the street, but opens inwards into a generous oasis.
Above Lift House presents a closed, near-windowless face to the street, its privacy deliberate in Bandung
Lift House presents a closed, near-windowless face to the street, its privacy deliberate in Bandung
1 / 1
Above At dusk, Lift House's concrete mass and timber screen glow above its guarded street wall in Bandung
Above Seen from the garden at dusk, the Bandung home’s living room glows as if it were simply another part of the landscape
At dusk, Lift House's concrete mass and timber screen glow above its guarded street wall in Bandung
1 / 2
Constraint into form
“From the front, I wanted it to feel like just a box,” Sugiharto says of the architecture, and the facade obliges: almost no windows face the road, and even the carport wall is built specifically to block sightlines up to the mezzanine.
Rather than squaring the L-shaped site off entirely, the architect let its shorter arm become its own wing: a driver’s bedroom, a second carport, a toilet, and the owner’s home office, entered from its own street-facing door.
Above A rooftop garden crowns the timber-clad wing, softening Lift House's guarded street façade in Bandung
Above A section of the timber facade pivots open, breaking its solidity with a sliver of natural ventilation
A rooftop garden crowns the timber-clad wing, softening Lift House's guarded street façade in Bandung
1 / 2
Above Timber doors mark the transition from the carport to the side garden
Timber doors mark the transition from the carport to the side garden
1 / 1
That gave the house two faces, and two doors, allowing the owner to conduct business at home without disturbing the rhythm of his family’s domestic bliss. The family enters through the main carport into a foyer, which distributes access onwards to the kitchen, the office, or the main living space.
The second entrance serves the office wing directly, built in for client meetings that, in practice, rarely happen at the house, but is there when needed. The architect reveals that he wanted every part of the plan to do more than one job. As he put it: “I still wanted to give them a real connection between the outside and inside.”
Above At night, the timber entrance door frames a lit garden path leading into Lift House
Above Timber slats overhead cast striped shadows across the concrete carport
At night, the timber entrance door frames a lit garden path leading into Lift House
1 / 2
Garden, not view
The ground floor is articulated as a single double-height volume for living and dining, its ceiling pulled up and glazed specifically so a seated person can see the tree canopy outside, not just the trunks. “It’s not that you sit in the living room with a view of a garden. It’s as if you’re sitting at the centre of the garden itself,” Sugiharto elaborates.
The proportion, he adds, was calculated to make the most of the garden while still keeping the home shielded from the outside. “If I’d raised it differently, you wouldn’t get that kind of connection to the garden.”
Above The double-height living space is furnished with iconic designer pieces such as the Herman Miller Eames lounger and Fritz Hansen Series 7 chairs, and opens out to the garden, its glazing calculated so the tree canopy stays in view even when one is seated
The double-height living space is furnished with iconic designer pieces such as the Herman Miller Eames lounger and Fritz Hansen Series 7 chairs, and opens out to the garden, its glazing calculated so the tree canopy stays in view even when one is seated
1 / 1
Above Floor-to-ceiling glazing lets the living room borrow its garden's greenery from almost every angle
Above Layered glass reflections blur the living room and garden into one continuous space.
Floor-to-ceiling glazing lets the living room borrow its garden's greenery from almost every angle
1 / 2
The terrace was deliberately subtracted to make room for a moringa tree. “The terrace used to be bigger, but I cut it back,” Sugiharto says. “I wanted to put the tree’s domain inside the terrace, visually making it a part of the living space.”
The landscaping itself is the work of local landscape consultant Studio Asa. “Their style is more eclectic, better suited to arranging small, detailed planting,” says Sugiharto. This includes pockets of green in the balcony, which nicely mirror the foliage of the adjacent park.
Above The kitchen and dining area below the mezzanine level provides a more intimate scale
Above These display steps hold books, plants and artworks that speak of the occupants’ shared life
The kitchen and dining area below the mezzanine level provides a more intimate scale
1 / 2
Above Display steps beside the stair hold books, like the Vitra Eames Elephant, plants and small objects within easy reach
Above Seen from above, dappled light patterns the dining area furnished with Fritz Hansen chairs, beneath its green Louis Poulsen pendant
Display steps beside the stair hold books, like the Vitra Eames Elephant, plants and small objects within easy reach
1 / 2
Seamless Living
The ground floor’s double height allows for a mezzanine with a more intimate scale, which provides the occupants with diverse spatial experiences.
Above View of the Bandung home’s mezzanine lounge and library from a timber-clad corridor
View of the Bandung home’s mezzanine lounge and library from a timber-clad corridor
1 / 1
This level holds a second living register: a library and TV lounge, tucked well away from the screen-free open main living area below, alongside a guest bedroom that can be converted into another child’s bedroom should the need arise.
Above The mezzanine’s library and lounge area looks out through glazing towards the stairway
The mezzanine’s library and lounge area looks out through glazing towards the stairway
1 / 1
Above A television, hidden from the garden room below, finds its place instead in the mezzanine's TV lounge
A television, hidden from the garden room below, finds its place instead in the mezzanine's TV lounge
1 / 1
The second storey of the Bandung house holds the family’s private quarters: a master bedroom and two children’s bedrooms run off a shared corridor, with a terrace on this floor opening onto a roof garden and a dry garden, keeping a thread of greenery running even at the top of the home.
The house’s primary structure is reinforced concrete, poured and finished by contractor Bouw Atelier, with steel used only as a secondary structure above the living room’s sliding doors. “The steel above the sliding doors lines up with the mezzanine railing so the interior and the architecture are integrated,” shares Sugiharto.
Above A walk-in wardrobe off the master suite doubles as a backlit display space
Above The Bandung house’s master bedroom stands behind dark, built-in joinery, with a mirrored panel doubling the light from the terrace beyond
A walk-in wardrobe off the master suite doubles as a backlit display space
1 / 2
Above Sliding glass doors along one wall give the master bedroom direct access to its own terrace
Sliding glass doors along one wall give the master bedroom direct access to its own terrace
1 / 1
That same instinct for continuity runs through the interior. Two mismatched Louis Poulsen pendant lights hang above the dining table. The green shade of one of them-- is then repeated as a bright accent throughout the rest of the house.
The stairway itself avoids a single enclosed run; it is broken instead into steps and landings that double as display spaces for family keepsakes, and is open enough that climbing it never feels as though the house is closing in on you.
Above At dusk, Lift House's living and dining spaces glow between glass walls and garden trees
At dusk, Lift House's living and dining spaces glow between glass walls and garden trees
1 / 1
Above The upper-floor terrace’s greenery spills visually into the adjacent park beyond, blurring where the garden ends and the neighbourhood begins
Above A slender koi pond traces the garden path alongside the living room's glass wall
The upper-floor terrace’s greenery spills visually into the adjacent park beyond, blurring where the garden ends and the neighbourhood begins
1 / 2
A family with growing children, and an owner who works from home, end up sharing a single garden that stays in view from almost anywhere in the house. In a city running short on room to spread out, that continuity may be the rarest luxury the Lift House offers.
Above A narrow garden fills the space between the house and its boundary wall, giving the dining room a view of greenery even at its tightest edge
A narrow garden fills the space between the house and its boundary wall, giving the dining room a view of greenery even at its tightest edge
1 / 1
Above At night, Lift House's timber-screened volume glows against its board-marked concrete shell in Bandung
At night, Lift House's timber-screened volume glows against its board-marked concrete shell in Bandung
1 / 1
Credits
Photography: Ernest Theofilus
Topics
Jakarta-born, Bandung-raised and Singapore-based, Asih Jenie trained in Visual Communication Design at Bandung Institute of Technology and Architecture at Parahyangan Catholic University. She brings both rigour and heart to design journalism, infused with a distinct Southeast Asian voice.
As a child, she doodled on the edges of her schoolbooks and never outgrew her fascination with all things well-made and well-told. Her 15-year career spans editorial roles and bylines in Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia, across spatial design titles such as Dwell Asia, Cubes, Design Anthology, Habitus Living, and Home & Decor.
After a brief stint in public relations, she returned to publishing in 2023 to lead Tatler Homes Singapore, where she continues to tell stories about how we shape the spaces that shape us.
