Villa Ashoka Canggu / 2009

I have, in co-operation with Danish based design studio Mencke & Vagnby, completed a villa at Bali, combining Scandinavian traditions with the openness and materials at Bali. The villa is designed as a summer residence for a Hong Kong bases couple, and it is located in the small village Canggu one hour drive north west of Denpasar.

The ground floor is kept open and in close contact with the garden and pools, while keeping a clear view over the rice paddies to the west. The surrounding Balinese stone wall continues inside and becomes the main structure, to further blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors. The same applies to the stone floor, which only changes surface structure from a rough surface around the pools to a slight matt indoor surface. It is done to obtain the openness, which is so typical for Balinese homes.

In contrast to that, the first floor box is kept in white concrete, reflecting the sunlight and providing shade for the ground floor, while it contains the three master bedrooms. The bathrooms are inspired by caves and also kept in a local stone with a large sky window over the shower and bathtub.

The shape of the villa is a result of the sites shape, surrounded by rice paddies, rain forest and a local holy path. The narrow north western part of the site is turned into a long swimming pool extending the shape of the northern wing and ending up in a sun deck surrounded by palm trees and with a stunning look down the rice paddies surrounded by rain forest. The garden is composed so that the flowers match the Balinese traditional world corners color wheel and unfurls itself through its different areas.

Photo by Alexis Menting.