From long-span bridges to poetic architecture, off-form concrete is the material of choice the world over. Harnessed across different design eras, it is malleable, uniform, yet highly resilient, lending itself perfectly to the harsh climes of the tropics. Its post-postmodern resurgence in the 2000s heralded a new vernacular in Malaysia that, unconstrained by city and suburban limits, would wind its way deep into the countryside.

Cast-in-situ’s latest incarnation in The Rainforest Residence – a private abode erected in Janda Baik’s exclusive Tanarimba estate – expresses a Brutalist spirit, an unapologetic modernist box grafted to evergreen slope. Such conviction doesn’t dispossess the house of its Vitruvian qualities. Look past firmitas and utilitas, and a tapestry of textures and of space is revealed, infused with art and homemaking laid upon nature’s doorstep.

ART AND ANDO

“Zakii [Ahmad Zakii Anwar] approached me a few years ago. He had bought this piece of land in Janda Baik and wanted to build a house. We have a lot of experience working in that area, and luckily for us, a referral got us connected,” says architect Choo Gim Wah of the project and his acclaimed client. The prominent contemporary artist, best known for his evocative urban realism and figurative works, is one of the few Malaysian artists of international following whose art has joined the collections of corporate and private buyers across Asia, Europe, and the US.

Zakii and wife Suryani, herself an established figure in the art scene, are no strangers to the design world, and had the work of one Japanese architect in mind to serve as inspiration.

“They’re a very well-travelled, well-read couple, always bouncing ideas. When they cited Tadao Ando, you sort of know what the direction was going to be,” Choo remarks on the collaborative design process. Prolific in his own use of fair-face concrete, it didn’t take long for the architect to materialise the abode’s signature aesthetic, albeit one tempered by genius loci.

A PURPOSEFUL NEGOTIATION

Choo’s repertoire of award-winning hillside homes informs a canny familiarity with the locale and its notorious topography. “Building on steep inclines is very challenging. We were expecting the same situation here,” he confesses. “That’s why, after completing the land survey, it was wonderful to find a gentle slope to the site. This gave us the opportunity to design a house that really hugged the terrain instead of putting it on stilts.”

Viewed from winding bend and sloping driveway, the aforementioned box and its complementary car porch appear the only objects. As with any grand design, this is but subterfuge, the grey façade both a literal and figurative expression; behind the blank elevation resides the topmost floor of an impressive 15,360 sq ft, three-level arrangement, spanning some fifty metres end to end. Arrangement isn’t a loose term, either, the layouts reflecting a purposeful negotiation between architecture and surrounding contours.

The shoring of form against earth lent room for experimentation. “Circulation in a house is, traditionally, internal. You’re walking between spaces, in corridors to get to rooms,” explains Choo. “But in this environment, with all this scenery, we decided to shift that circulation to the outside so that you move in nature, you connect to it. To be frank, not many clients are comfortable being this exposed. So we’re glad this client has embraced it.”

NATURAL INHABITATION

This attention to the outdoors is evident the moment you enter; a grand foyer of roof and rippling brick frame the splendour of adjacent forest, its Pantheonic-Andoesque oculus highlighting a floating stair that leads to private accommodation below. Living, dining and kitchen areas of the upper level likewise brush up against nearby trees. An external balcony links the three spaces – itself a fourth zone if you factor its recreational and home-garden uses – as occupants are treated to an epic panorama. Full-height glass doors beckon morning sun and natural ventilation into the house, the interior cool thanks to the insulated concrete mass overhead.

Oculus aside, roof and wall are one monolithic surface which, according to Choo, wasn’t a coincidence. He says, “Artists need walls to display their work. You can say that’s why there are no windows in the main façade.” Two outstanding pieces of Zakii’s charcoal work, hanging from said wall, emphasise Choo’s point.

It is just that, the juxtaposition of art and inhabitation, that has transformed the house. Paintings, loose furnishings, masks, statues, traditional weapons, books (and lots of them) all collected over the years, subsume the interiors, giving a glimpse of a worldly yet surprisingly down-to-earth lifestyle. More secluded spaces of the artist’s studio and home office reveal the working side of the homeowners, yet each isn’t devoid of its intimacy, perpetually bathed in its surroundings.

Patches of moss striate the building envelope. Other plants may too in time lay claim to the architecture underneath. This in many ways best expresses the virtues of The Rainforest Residence, where through design nature is cherished, and family life all the more nourished.