H-Residence

The brief for Residensi Harmoni started with a material rather than a floor plan. The clients, friends of the studio, asked for birch plywood. The house was built around that one request. Birch runs the full length of the home, appearing as balustrade panels along the staircase, as floor to ceiling wall panelling, as storage, and as a kitchen of plywood carcasses with routed finger pulls set beneath a sleek stainless steel top. The panelling is laid out in an open grid with seams left exposed, so the plywood reads as structure rather than surface. Against that warmth, the rest of the house is allowed to be loud. A light blue handrail folds along the balustrade. A dining alcove sits in deep chocolate brown around an oxblood pedestal table. Olive upholstery, a chartreuse rug, a paper globe lantern in the stairwell. The stair core is carpeted from bottom to top, treads and landings included. It softens the sound and gives the stair the feel of a room rather than a route. Rare in a Malaysian home, and the thing that makes the house read as European.