Home tour: a Jakarta apartment with the soul of a New York penthouse

The lift opens to a small private lift lobby. In the original layout, double doors lead to a family room. To the right are the master bedroom, living and dining areas, and wet and dry kitchens; to the left are three en-suite bedrooms in a line. When Jap first saw the apartment with large windows overlooking Semanggi, Sudirman, and Senayan—key places in Jakarta’s skyline, she was reminded of city penthouses.

“I pictured a penthouse as a New York-style residence with soaring spaces and full-height panoramic windows overlooking the city skyline,” she shares. At the same time, Jap also saw the potential of the existing layout to create generous, fluid spaces just like in large penthouses, and used this to guide the changes. 

The homeowners did not need many rooms so the original master bedroom was converted into a study room that connects to the living area through a band of large, operable doors. This effectively extends the common area’s sightlines and hence, the sense of space. A small guestroom was carved from the original master bedroom, which now cleanly defines the right of the apartment as a designated public zone. 

To the left, Jap made a large master bedroom suite out of two typical bedrooms. She joined two bathrooms to create a capacious master bathroom with twin sinks, two WC cubicles, and a freestanding Toto bathtub. Of the newly conjoined master bedroom, one half is a generous walk-in wardrobe. The third bedroom is for the child. 

With the layout reconfigured to greater functionality and flow, Jap layered on materials to give the apartment a touch of understated decadence, inspired by the wife’s preferences and precedents.

“The homeowners previously lived in New York City for both study and work. When the wife first approached me, she shared her admiration of the Soori High Line by SCDA Architects—an impeccably elegant apartment complex by the Singaporean firm—and the understated elegance of the late-French architect and interior designer Christian Liaigre,” shares Jap. 

The wife had also seen a condominium project in Singapore that NN Studio had decked out with natural materials, clean lines and warm lighting that convinced her Jap’s design leanings were attuned to her own.

Says the latter, “We believe that memorial spatial experiences should evoke a response from all our senses—of sight, touch, and sound. So in this home, we mainly used natural materials like marble and wood for [surface] panelling.” 

For example, she extended the sense of welcome by finishing the lift lobby and foyer (the former family room right after the entrance door) with ceilings clad in dark wood. “I wanted to create an intimate mood for when the family or guests first reach the house, to create an ‘in-between’ space when they go from the public spaces to the more private areas,” Jap explains.

The rest of the apartment has a similar treatment, with walls, floors and floors given care and thought through well-finished materials rather than blank white walls. This gives the home a refined character, and helps stitch the different rooms and spaces together visually and tactually. 

Focal points through material change break the monotony of the planes, such as a mirrored panel in the living room to create the feeling of a double-storey space. In the same room, a display niche backed with Gold Saint Laurent black stone provides visual depth against general oak timber laminated surfaces.  

In the study, Jap built a dark timber-cladded wall across the windows as a backdrop for a painting by Eric Pradana. “I love his works,” she says on the Indonesian artist, whose painterly strokes quietly embellish mealtimes.

“I'm drawn to how the painting balances emotional density with visual calm; the composition feels structured yet fluid, and the colour palette creates intimacy. Instead of shouting for attention, it creates emotion,” she elaborates.

Below the study table, a blue carpet from Moire Rugs hand-tufted in Jakarta draws on the tones of Pradana’s artwork. This artful sensibility is matched with the design of many custom pieces designed by Jap herself, which go well with furniture—many of which are from Christian Liaigre, of course. 

As the husband loves to cook, Jap created a large island in the adjacent dry kitchen. The countertop is durable Dekton to deal with the hard knocks of serious meal preparation.

This functional approach to joinery is echoed in the walk-in wardrobe, where Jap incorporated seating in the island display table for the wife to sit and wear her shoes easily.

“She has a classy fashion style, so I believe it would be easier for her to dress up and match her looks with her bags and accessories [openly displayed]. It’s also easier for her to access her things,” Jap explains on the open-concept shelving.  

The enlarged master bathroom features a washbasin counter made from elegant statuario white marble from Indonesian natural stone supplier, Fagetti. On the wall, the Sylvestrina lamps from Santa & Cole were chosen “because they look like candles, providing a classic, old-world charm in a modern setting,” shares Jap. 

She remarks that this project reflects NN Studio’s aim “to design spaces that evolve with time” where users find that their homes are comfortable and adaptable foils to their daily lives. “We love exploring the story of a place and our client’s own story too, through our approach to architecture and design,” Jap expresses. Thus, no two projects are entirely the same, but a bespoke product—just like this home.  

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