Not all houses are designed for permanence. N Weekday House responds to a contemporary pattern of living shaped by mobility, repetition, and restraint. Located on a corner plot in Alam Sutera, Indonesia, the house serves a family whose weekday routines are anchored in Jakarta while their permanent home remains elsewhere.
Designed during the pandemic, the project addresses a specific brief: a residence that performs efficiently when unoccupied, remains generous when inhabited, and requires minimal maintenance over time. Rather than resolving the condition of transience, the architecture accommodates it through spatial clarity and environmental responsiveness.
Passive design strategies form the project’s foundation. Cross-ventilation is prioritized throughout the house, enabled by its non-adjoining boundaries and articulated through vertical openings and garden voids. A central garden anchors the spatial organization, introducing daylight through skylights while facilitating continuous air movement across split levels. The resulting void expands spatial perception within a compact footprint.
Climate is treated as an active design element. In response to Alam Sutera’s high rainfall, a sloped roof directs rainwater visibly to the ground, bypassing conventional concealed gutters. This pragmatic approach reinforces the project’s emphasis on legibility and performance.
Public and private zones are carefully layered. An open terrace mediates between exterior and interior, allowing interaction without intrusion. Large sliding glass panels connect the terrace to the living and dining areas, enabling flexible use. A mezzanine guest bedroom and a compact work-from-home space support occasional occupancy without over-programming the house.
Within strict building setbacks and limited site area, the design favors porosity over enclosure. Light, air, and spatial continuity define the experience. The result is a restrained domestic architecture—quiet, efficient, and calibrated to the realities of contemporary urban life.