Inside A Floating Treehouse | Most Hidden Open-to-Forest House Tour | Nature Family Retreat Home

Wherever you sit in this house, you have a beautiful view of the garden. So what you want to do is make a project that people are very happy to live in here. When I design the houses, I need to build a garden. Here, the garden is natural. God has made the garden. Sometimes we get leafy eating monkeys rummaging through the trees, eating the leaves. You have this really close contact with nature and the view is absolutely fabulous. It's like a painting. Hello, my name is Alex Lee and I am from Design Seeds. Some time ago, we featured an episode of the Hidden Garden House in Hulun Langan. In a short period of eight months, that video is now touching 2.1 million views. Due to the immense demand, we were motivated to travel to the south to exploit another extraordinary home for your viewing pleasure. Before we begin, if you're not subscribed to our channel yet, do it now. Click on that subscribe button and turn on that notification buzzer to stay in the loop of more compelling design episodes. Today's episode on Design Seeds, we will be revealing this three-storey residence that is built on a steep slope that enters at the mid-level with a dramatic view that faces the south to the forested hill and west to the sunset. The culprit who choreographed this astonishing masterpiece is the same person who did the garden house, Inge Lim, the celebrated Malaysian landscape designer who had the vision and idea of building this home at the parallel eye level with the trees. Let us present to you the floating tree house. Hello, my name is Inge. A long time ago, this was a huge rubber plantation and it was disused. This beautiful stream that runs out of here. So I used to hang around here a lot. This three-storey residence is built on a steep slope that was meant to be two plots of semi-detached property. The steeply sloping site is at the end of the cul-de-sac on the edge of the forest reserve. When I first saw the site, I just thought, difficult, it's not an easy site. Difficult because of the steep slope and it wasn't a big site. But because of this jungle, what happens is that you find that this site is a lot bigger psychologically than it actually was. The moment you pass through this mystical Javanese up-cycle portal doors, a 14 by 18 feet fishpond greets your arrival. With the calm waters and reflection of the architecture reflected on the surface of the pond, the interior of the heart of the property is ever-changing. In all my projects, the outside is led in, in one way or another. And that water feature is fed from a natural stream. You're bringing the outside all the way in to the heart of the building. I always feel that there's no point having a pond unless you spend time there. If you have no seating areas, you're not likely to spend time at the pond. The idea of going low and then having the very high ceiling. That courtyard serves several purposes, but mainly to allow hot air to rise and dissipate. And the other one, obviously, is to allow light through. There is a louver that you can open and close. Sometimes when it's raining, it's very, very nice to open the louver and let the rain come in. I fall into the pond and you see this beautiful pattern created by the ripples on the water. Because I realise the importance of the indoor and outdoor aspect of tropical living, I always try and put a little bit of space outside that you can get out to from every room, wherever possible. Obviously, there are areas where it is not possible. In that particular case, because it's a car park, I realised I can make a garden outside of the daughter's room. She can have access to that garden. In the afternoon, when you're in the community, you can hear the birds singing. You can hear the water flowing. You can hear the birds chirping. Walking towards the living area, a sweeping view of this high double-volume ceiling and panoramic view of the dramatic scenery of the forest would put anyone in awe. If you look at the building from the outside, you'll find that there's a gateway. And the gateway faces the entrance, that faces the foray, that faces the pond, that faces, you know, and so it's a progression of space. You're visually led from one space to another, to another, to another, to another. There's a second floor downstairs. We turned it into a guest room, a karaoke room, and a medium-sized living room. Many would be paranoid about the safety of such an open home. But the owner, Khoo and Elaine, they were certainly thoughtful enough to plan ahead. One of the most significant highlights that makes this property stand out would certainly be the striking pitch roof structure that's built in teak wood. The contrasting colour gives a great touch of warmth to both the architecture and interior design. I was looking for a more of a traditional form in the roof construction. It works in a tropical setting because water is expelled very quickly from the roof. And also because heat gain in the roof space can be expelled. The roof is quite complex. Timber somehow makes the building feel warmer. And because it was a stone floor, I wanted to have a very light-coloured ceiling. On top of that fixed glass, I made a gap. And the gap has louver. So even when the doors are closed, there's always a place for the hot air to escape. If you walk into this room, you'll feel the double-volume space. And you can look through the double-volume space and realise the height of this hill and the height of the trees. Sitting by the decking that is cocooned by the forest reserve, listening to the birds and crickets chirping, and the sound of cockerels greeting the dawn, there's utter silence and time to reflect on the blessings of life. The deck is obviously a main feature of this house. The tropical situation like we have here, it's always much better to have external seating areas so that internal spaces and external spaces flow into one. In this particular case, it was really good because this jungle produces very fresh air and very cool air. The client uses this place a lot. They entertain here, they sit here, they dine here, they spend a lot of time on this deck. This place is fairly mosquito-proof. In this particular instance, there's a stream. And the stream is a breeding ground for dragonflies. And dragonflies eat a lot of mosquitoes. So here is a natural setting where actually the predators are well and alive and they hunt down the mosquitoes. In fact, they are biting the skin of the dragonflies. They bite it like this, and the original pattern is reproduced. That's something that can't be done by humans. I think this is a natural creation. And I think, hey, all the colors are coming out. It's better to play with the mosquitoes. I think this is a gift from God. I think this is nature. If it comes, we can only avoid it. When it's not here, we can avoid it. I don't think it's a big deal for them to come in. They don't like the dragonflies. They are here to find food. As long as you can guard them, don't kill them. It's not necessary. In fact, it's a good thing to get along with wild animals. Only places where wild animals can survive are places where humans can live. It's interesting how most houses are built to avoid the west-facing sun. And this house is designed to face the evening sun. And yet, internally, the house is constantly feeling the forest's cool breeze. Unfortunately, sometimes, you get the orientation of the house, of the view, which may run counter to the orientation to the sun. In this particular case, obviously, two things take precedence. One is the view, and one is the orientation towards the forest, so that the cool breeze can always be seen. And that counteracts whatever solar gain that you might get. I think you can feel it right now, the breeze. It blows up the valley, it blows down from the hill. The pride of this project has to be highlighted based on its honesty to materials. Majority of the windows and doors, and even the carpentry works, are handmade with solid teak wood. I happened to meet a friend who specializes in carpentry. So basically, all the furniture in my house are made with solid teak wood. The floor, for example. The door is basically an antique door. It was taken down by the old house owners in Indonesia. I designed the door to fit the size of the door. To do good, you must do good. To do good, you must do good deeds. To do good, you must be successful. Yeah, well, I designed this, and of course, I rather like it. I think it's quite beautiful. It's a screen that I wanted to build. I selected Burmese teak as the medium. I wanted a durable timber. Because when you're outside, you need it to be durable. Antique, I like the color. Even when I was young, every time I thought of somebody clearing one acre of land, it would cause me pain. Because you just imagine the number of insects and animals and birds that you're depriving of a home, or depriving of, you know, life, even. It is very painful. Because through my life, between I was young and now, things like the Sumatra rhinoceros have gone extinct. In my time, they were still roaming around in Johor. You could actually see them. But now, money is everything, and everything else is secondary. We are living in dangerous times, I would say. There is a feeling of contentment in this dramatic yet magical home. The feeling of renewal and inspiration. I was having a conversation with the owner, Khoo, and something he said inspired me a lot. The floating benches overseeing the forest were often conquered by what seemed like carpenter ants, which is most likely to be a catastrophic nightmare for most people. And the immediate thought of most people would be how to get rid of them. But in Khoo's words, he said, this is the circle of life. The forest was theirs to begin with. We are sharing the habitat. And that phrase moved me. There was so much compassion we could learn from people like them. And this is one of the beauties of the Zion Seed. Realising life in the language and eyes of design and architecture. We thank you for supporting us throughout these years in bringing up the design scene and its value. We are constantly hunting high and low to unveil more and more compelling design episodes. We would be really thankful if all of you could extend your support by clicking on that join button and buy us a cup of coffee with a minimum amount starting from $2.50. Support us by clicking on that join membership button and help us contribute for us to expand our capacity. My name is Alex Lee and I am from the Zion Seeds. Don't forget to subscribe and click on that notification buzzer to stay in the loop of more amazing interior design and architecture content. Thank you for watching. I'll see you guys next week.