Two Homes One Roof _ Terrace House Transformation _ Sustainable Architecture _ Interior Design Ideas

A home doesn't exist in isolation. It breathes within its surroundings. When an architect designs with sensitivity to the environment and weather, something magical is created. The space becomes more than just practical. It feels right, natural, and comfortable. And when a home feels comfortable in its surroundings, the people who live in it often feel the same too. My name is Alex Lee, and I am from Design Seed. Join us as we explore another amazing terrace transformation in this episode. At first glance, this feels like a single home. But this house was designed as two, a house within another house. When the whole family gathers, the upper floor opens up. But in quieter seasons, life settles comfortably on the ground floor. This is a thoughtful kind of flexibility, one that respects privacy and space. The name of the project is called Door Duplex. It's meant for a house that can be extended from a single family to an extended family. So it's actually for two generation and three generations, the possibility of extended house. The biggest challenge of the project is actually a very tiny and narrow site. It's about 20 meters times 60 meters. The space planning for the project is very much, we designed it, because it's a narrow space, so we had to design it on a section plan. So imagine it's like a two L-block put together. The first L-block on the ground floor is for one family, meaning you have your living rooms, your dining rooms, and one bedroom. And there's a staircase connecting the upper block of this L. Another family will be sitting on another block. It's like an L-block sitting like this. So this part will be the family living, and the part on the top will be the bedrooms. So it's like an interlocking of two L-blocks put together. The entrance greet you with quiet charm in a small bubbling pond. A calm scenery stages the living room, but the pond is more than just ornamental. The water cools the hot air coming in from the road through the slits in the facade. This creates a refreshing transition between the outside and the calm within. One of the reasons we are doing a pond there is we want to harness rainwater. We want to do a house that also celebrates raining season when it's raining. The water, even our gutter, it's actually got a lot of perforation. So the gutter is actually collecting water from the roof, and then we bring down the water through all the scabbles hanging on the gutter and bring the water down to the pond. The ground floor opens up in a fluid layout where the living, kitchen and dining comes together harmoniously. In contrast, the kitchen conveys practicality and endurance with a concrete countertop. With furnishings that echo a rustic industrial style, this is a design language for a house unafraid of imperfections. The materials of concrete, metal and wood may sound cold at first, but it's how they're balanced that brings warmth. Well, I think one of the reasons we use concrete is the durability, the strength of concrete. And we're also not thinking that we want to repaint the buildings every now and then. So concrete by far is the best selection. The ground floor, though open in feel, is intentionally layered in function. Folding doors divide the remaining space into a home office. The wooden flooring creates a balance between industrial and intimate that defines the heart of this home. Connecting the floors is a black steel staircase. Its openness allows air to circulate freely and natural light to filter down. It's an example of how every design decision serves more than just form, but also function and flow. The first floor features a guest room, an open loft and a family area with a balcony. As you reach the first floor, you're greeted by a guest room of exposed red brick walls and its own bathroom. A hallway with a glass floor leads to a family room and the glass adding an open feel. The family room sits in a tucked away corner of the home with its own small kitchen, a cozy breakfast nook and a balcony opening up to nature. It's a quieter counterpart to the main living space a space to slow down, to breathe and to relax. The living room at the first floor is open up to the garden at the front. Also, this living room is connected by a staircase directly from the street or side to this balcony on the first floor. At this living room, you can find there's a double volume that we have a skylight at the edge of the roof to bring natural light in. Overlooking this lounge, a loft opens up above. High windows invite sunlight in and the loft becomes a cozy reading space. Together, these spaces paint the picture of a home in two parts, able to merge when family gathers and separate when solitude is welcome. The second floor is home to the master bedroom. Surrounded by high glass windows, the entire space is bathed in natural light. For moments of retreat, a second layer of curtains are tucked deeper into the room. Exposed red brick walls meet raw concrete surfaces creating a space that feels grounded and honest. The biggest challenge is to how can we not receive too much heat because it's on the rooftop. So what we do is that we decided that the roof of the master room got to be planter box, got to be green roof. So we do make it like a stepping planters so we can put, plant some plants. By doing so, we can actually reduce the heat gain and make the master room cooler. They reduce the home's dependence on artificial cooling, letting nature do what it does best. It's another expression of how this home cares for its surroundings. In many ways, this home isn't just a house. It is an architect's design response to climate, to its surroundings, and to lifestyle, where function and feeling meet in quiet harmony. I think the biggest challenge for Malaysian's housing is how can we design a house that the lifespan of the house can actually spend longer. From our generations to our children's, how can we do a house that we can actually have everyone stay in one house if we decide to stay together? At the same time, we still keep those privacy. So I find it could be a bit hard for the younger generation to own a house. Perhaps the land of property is very, very difficult. So how can we build in a very, very small plot of land? We can build a house that can cater for one or two families. This is a challenge. But just as we were leaving, something else caught our eye. Right beside the communal garden on the ground floor stood a striking yet humble red brick structure. We couldn't help but wonder what lay behind these walls. And to our surprise, we learned that the space was designed by no one other than Sek San, a visionary architect who sparked a movement that redefined Malaysian architecture. A movement rooted in simplicity and sustainability that design should serve everyone. In the next coming episode, we step into that space and into the mind of the architect who changed how we build and how we live. If you enjoyed this episode and you wanna learn more about interior design and architecture-related content, please click on the subscribe button and stay tuned to more compelling design episodes. My name is Alex Lee, and I am from Design Seed. Thank you for watching. I'll see you guys next week.