Mango Tree House turns confined interior into interconnected spaces with trees, ventilation, and daylight
The brief called for an extension of an outdoor kitchen in a backyard with
a mature mango tree, a shoe cabinet, a TV wall design,
and a bathroom for two with a very limited budget.
The backyard tropical garden kitchen proposal
Extensive study of the surrounding site context is done to gasp the
spirit of places, the experience of the surroundings, and intensive studies
of the house were carried out including the backyard topography, the
type of foliage, the subject matter of place characteristic, the suitable local material, and deep meaning of home to help make the design process be more effective to make a meaningful transformation.
The center of attention of the site - an existing Mangifera indica (mango tree), also known as the
spirit of the place (the significant context that defines the unique quality of the
home) in terms of the uniquely beautiful experience that the homeowner had with when purchasing the house was used as the main idea contributor. Designs
were drawn around the mango tree and the subsequent elements of design
begin to circulate around and along all sides of the tree.
More Than Trees
Apart from the mango tree, a Citrus aurantifolia (key lime tree) is also kept as
a center of focus that can facilitate backyard cooking and social
gathering garden area.
The front facade of the existing house
View near the house as one important contextual info of geography and
experience
The existing front porch
The existing entrance foyer. On the right is a guest room with a small
window facing an existing shoe cabinet without proper ventilation.
The first floor. The existing living area with a TV wall on right and a dry
kitchen.
The existing backyard of the house on the first floor. The house is
uniquely characterized being a slopping topography site with multiple terraces across
the neighbor.
Proposed backyard outdoor garden kitchen with a treehouse and social
gathering spaces.
The Tropical Garden Kitchen
The experience of place is designed to encircle the existing mango tree. Different intensities architecture of human-human interaction, human-mother nature interaction, and human-human-mother nature interaction were introduced such as the treehouse, the concrete bench under the overhead flower pergola, a mini garden, and a kitchen island.
The existing backyard
Proposed backyard outdoor garden kitchen
Proposed backyard outdoor garden kitchen
Similar to the tropical jack roof, the design of the new clay roof over the outdoor kitchen has another shorter glass roof sitting on the clay roof with an air gap to facilitate stack ventilation. It further improvises the effectiveness of clay roof solution as a great sun shade by allowing ample daylighting to lit the kitchen area, improving the kitchen ventilation by letting the rise-up cooking fume escape through the roofs' air gap.
Proposed garden seatings and pergola in front of the outdoor kitchen
From Shoe Cabinet To Architecture Of Waiting Spaces
The existing entrance porch
The existing entrance with an old shoe cabinet
Proposed waiting spaces with multi-functional shoe storage area
The design process derived from the brief of a shoe cabinet design apparently dissected two folds: the possibility of the spaces having dealt with the process of taking off and wearing shoes, and the quest of enabling a good quality ventilated air for the room next to the existing shoe cabinet.
Waiting spaces is created
combining the notions of waiting and storing (shoes). The experience of wearing shoes and taking off shoes made inspiring by a few design gestures:
The black painted writing chalkboard cabinets with a personifying user characteristic display compartments - plant lovers turn the shoe cabinet into a plant stand, book lovers make the shoe cabinet a used books area, collectors make homecoming experience a variety of collectible and old items welcome.
Can You Bring Ventilation, Daylight, Security, And Social Interaction Altogether With One Solution?
A set of metal grill doors is introduced in two important features. One, it gives ample daylighting, a proper air intake, and ventilation to the guest room next to it. Two,
it serves a sense of security to the home users. When the metal grill door opens and stays 90 degrees, it forms an entrance depth that defines an entryway, reciprocally semi-enclosing the new outdoor sitting concrete bench area that enables users to chill, talk to neighbors, and see outsiders.
The proposed entrance waiting area
The proposed entrance waiting area
Can you create a TV cabinet that can be appreciated from the front and the
back?
The existing living area and a dry kitchen
the existing living area in front of a staircase
Proposed stand-alone TV stand in the opposite of the original TV wall
The back of the proposed TV stand view from the staircase that linked the house entrance and the living area level
The new TV cabinet has two distinctive meanings and can be architecturally appreciated from all angles. On one hand, it enables see-through for visual-spatial continuity, so that whoever passes by, there will be a degree of interaction and spatial interconnectedness to not feel confined. When users take the
staircase, action and presence turn connection.
On the other hand, it features displayed ability that enables displayed items appreciated from different directions (small furry friend
included, of course).
It also has a correlation with the entrance grill door design.
The bedroom design overlooking the mango tree yard
The proposed bathroom for two
