The Hollow is a villa with a building typology that reflects a modern tropical architectural style. Located in Canggu, a resort village on the south coast of Bali, Indonesia, the area is less crowded so the villa can overlook the surrounding rice paddies. Given the location, The Hollow’s concept derives from our design response to the tropical climate of Indonesia through a modern style with some elements from traditional Balinese architecture.

Without any natural seasons in terms of temperature and moisture changes, air circulation and lighting become critical elements to consider in the design process. While taking advantage of the surrounding environment, we also implemented green architecture to minimize the negative environmental impact. One of those includes a passive cooling system by eliminating walls separating communal spaces and the usage of pivoting shutters on the villa’s façade. The bedrooms and other private areas are separated in closeable volumes.

As a result, The Hollow, like its name, mainly comprises open spaces that blur the boundaries between the interior and the exterior. Our usage of pivoting shutters allows flexibility in multiple ways. The pivots provide a sense of privacy while creating a visual continuity of the surrounding paddy fields. Additionally, the openness from using shutters and the lack of buildings present around the area cause a wind tunnel effect throughout the villa’s interior.

With the constant cross-ventilation, using ceiling fans for the communal spaces is sufficient to keep the space cooler, and rosters are used in the staircase area to prevent the rising in moisture level by keeping the air circulation flowing. Furthermore, we tackled concerns about extreme rainy weather by including wooden blinds and latticework on the pivoting shutters. Not only do they help shade from the harsh sunlight, but they also minimize rainwater from entering the interior.

Besides passive cooling, another green system considered for this project is the materials for the property. Commonly used in traditional Balinese architecture, most materials are sustainable, such as natural stones and wood. Each material is chosen from consideration of its usage and its accommodating properties to the climate, as seen in the lounge. Typically in tropical houses, designers avoid having space under the roof due to potential overheating. What we did to prevent that in the lounge was by adding aluminum to the layers of the roofing. Not only are they eco-friendly and corrosion-resistant, but they also cool down faster.

In addition, the materials are sourced and hand-made by local artisans. Not only could local suppliers and products be supported by this initiative, but it also reduces the villa’s carbon footprint. From the variety of woods native to Indonesia, one of them is Merbau wood. Usually, Bamboo is weaved as latticework but instead, we used Merbau wood for its sturdier quality. They’re found on the shutters and railings, and aside from that, Merbau wood is also used as doors.

Another type of wood we chose is Ulin wood, they are as sturdy as Merbau wood but are darker in color. Ulin wood can be found lined up into decks. Despite not using Bamboo for the shutters and railings, they are incorporated into the ceilings of the villa. Due to their flexible characteristic, they’re the ideal material to be weaved together using the wicker technique. Other types of materials that are present are natural stones and they are chosen for the overall aesthetic of the interior. Andesite on the interior walls adds texture and they are long-lasting. Other natural stones we chose are Limestones which are local to Bali. They can be found on the exterior walls of the pool area and they can withstand tropical weather.