How to fit an airy, design-conscious home in a small space

Jakarta isn't the most conducive city for young families with small children. Apart from soaring land prices, the city barely has any green spaces. And with the myriad of skyscrapers, mansions and tumbling colonial buildings choking up the streets, Jakarta often doesn't make a very peaceful and pretty picture.

Therefore, many young families prefer to reside in the suburbs, where the land is cheaper and the quality life better.

"Middle class families who reside in the suburbs can even afford professional architect services because the land prices are more reasonable. As such, houses in the suburbs of Jakarta are typically better designed than those in the city," says Riri Yakub, who made a name for himself building smart and compact houses for many young couples.

His family home in Bintaro, a suburb located 20 kilometres away from the city centre, embodies what he calls a "practical and functional family house".

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Made to Measure

From the outside, the house looks like an unfinished building; its façade is a plain white wall with three windows and a door, and its unsheltered car porch is tiled with raw concrete blocks. Yet, the house looks striking and oddly beautiful.

Asked about the façade of the house, Yakub explains: "This house is facing west; it is drenched in sunlight every afternoon. If I had designed bigger windows on the façade, the house would have retained too much heat."

Sitting on 90sqm (about 970 sq ft) of land, the two-storey house has a simple layout. But like the façade, every inch of the house has been thoughtfully designed.

Guests are greeted with a pantry and a wheeled breakfast table that seats two, as well as a loosely furnished but charming living area. Yakub admits that many of the furniture and furnishings here are off-the-rack IKEA pieces.

"Most of the furniture pieces on the first floor are movable. I purposely chose furniture pieces that I can easily fold and hide in the store room if I have a big crowd in my tiny house," says the 32-year-old architect.

Also located on the ground floor are the maid's quarters and laundry area, neatly concealed behind a floor-to-ceiling book cabinet.

"I dedicated 1.25m's width of land for a pathway on the left side of the house. This pathway, separated from the indoor area by a panel of glass doors, brings natural light and fresh air (into the house)," says Yakub.

The budget was nearly as tight as the space in this 98sqm house. But for Yakub, living small is the new way to live big - even if with physically fewer square feet. He doesn't think there should be any barrier to owning a dream house.

"In any case, limitations trigger creativity," says Riri, adding that he spent Rp. 200 million (S$25,400) to build his dream home.

Modern Family

A born and bred Jakartan, Yakub's lifelong passion is to redefine the concept of urban house in the densely populated Indonesian capital.

"The classic problems for modern, middle class Indonesian families are budget and land size. The solution is to create a living space that caters to homeowners' main needs," Yakub explains.

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"I made it a point to jot down my daily activities, as well as my wife's, before I designed the house. We then sat down and discussed if we needed rooms for each activity that we do - and which rooms could be combined," he continues.

Yakub and his wife, a graphic designer for a popular teenage magazine, decided that they neither need a dining table nor a door in the master bathroom.

As working parents, Yakub says they rarely sit down for dinner after work. They usually spend time watching TV in the evening while playing with their one and only son.

"We then agree that we don't need a dining area. As for the unbounded bathroom in the master bedroom, well… I know it's rather unconventional. But the truth is that the communication between my wife and I happens either in the morning when we get ready to work or late at night when prepare ourselves to go to bed. A bathroom door will definitely stop that communication," says Yakub with a chuckle.

The only thing that separates the bath from the bedroom is a small study table and a counter top basin, which doubles as a vanity table.

Occupying half the first floor, the master's bedroom also consists of a walk-in wardrobe and a balcony. A panel of glass sliding doors hugs the bedroom, allowing long views and gives an unexpected sense of space.

The appeal of a smartly designed home, such as Yakub's, is universal. While design preferences may vary, it is an indisputable fact that every one of us needs a quiet sanctuary for our minds to rest in. In Yakub's case, he managed to make one for his whole family even in this small yet efficient space.