Wahana Architects presents El House in Jakarta. The project responds to a clear domestic brief: create a home that welcomes extended family, close friends, and professional colleagues with comfort, openness, and spatial clarity. The architects approached the house as a setting for shared time, designing rooms that support daily living as well as gatherings across different scales.
HOUSING
The plan centers on a large living and dining area, which acts as the social core of the home. Wahana Architects gives this central space an open configuration, allowing the residents to host intimate dinners, larger family moments, and professional gatherings within one flexible setting. A professional-grade kitchen supports this program and extends the home’s focus on hospitality.
The architects build the project through a clear system of layers. El House divides into two main volumes, separated by a slender transitional zone. This elongated space takes the form of a linear reflective pond, giving the house a quiet pause between programs. The pond creates a sensory link with the natural surroundings and introduces water as a defining spatial element. Its placement shapes movement through the residence and gives the separation between volumes a calm, deliberate character.
Solid masses, transitional zones, water, and surface treatments work together to define how residents and guests move through the house. The project avoids an enclosed reading of domestic space and instead creates a sequence of connected areas that encourage gathering, reflection, and movement.
The right wing introduces one of the project’s strongest exterior gestures. Wahana Architects wraps this volume in a brown-toned secondary skin, which acts as a protective layer and gives the facade a distinct identity. The envelope adds texture and depth while controlling the relationship between the interior and exterior. Its color and surface quality bring warmth to the composition, while its role as a screen gives the house a stronger sense of enclosure.
The secondary skin also supports the project’s layered spatial language. It stands alongside the reflective pond, the solid building volumes, and the transitional voids as part of the same architectural system. The facade treatment gives the right wing a specific presence without separating it from the overall composition.
El House defines contemporary domestic life through gathering and clarity. The residence gives equal importance to family, friends, and professional guests, creating a home that can shift between private living and larger social use. Its central living and dining area supports that flexibility, while the kitchen, pond, and layered volumes extend the sense of hospitality throughout the plan.
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Site area: 730 m²
Built Area: 1,158 m²
Principal Architect: Rudy Kelana
Design Team: Ruth Connie Rajagukguk, Gloria Gracia
Contractor: HansLala Contractor
Photography: Mario Wibowo
