WHBC Architects’ concrete tropical box embraces the lush jungle and manages to blur the lines between inside and outside.
Like luxury cars, designer handbags, and high-end mechanical watches, palatial homes are often built to telegraph wealth. Its size, locale, and contents are brandished like a kind of status symbol to communicate to the world at large that “I’ve made it!”
Nonetheless, even in a city with its fair share of conspicuous consumers like Kuala Lumpur, there are those who place importance on other values.
A wonderful example of this backlash of bigger-is-better, and rejection that flash-is-best, is the Chempenai House, an intimate, almost minimalistic dwelling designed by WHBC Architects.
A Modernist Concrete House
The house displays an adherence to modernist principles, as well as an affinity with their immediate surroundings.
Situated on a slope in the affluent suburb of Damansara Heights, the Chempenai House is something of a curiosity in a neighbourhood, dominated by ostentatious mansions and posh condominiums.
In stark contrast to its more extravagant counterparts, its bare concrete surfaces are austere and understated.
![dsc_0398-copy-1024x681-1 Chempenai House in Kuala Lumpur was deliberately designed to look unassuming from the front entrance.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/dsc_0398-copy-1024x681-1.jpg)
Designed to be Hidden
Moreover, the home appears to not even want to be found, half-hidden as it is among lush tropical trees and vegetation. While the lush profusion of foliage appears completely natural, a lot of planning went into making this tableau look so effortless.
The egg-crate structure is built of in-situ concrete
![img_9319-copy-682x1024-1 Chempenai House Kuala Lumpur's egg-crate structure is built of in-situ concrete](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/img_9319-copy-682x1024-1.jpg)
“The site is really interesting and surrounded by green. When we first visited the site, the neighbouring lot was coming up quite extensively and overlooking our lot.
Therefore, we have a tall building on the eastern side and green patches on the west so it is subjected to the hot afternoon sun. Furthermore, the site is sloping downwards to the back. It hit us immediately: it is going to be a challenging job, and we loved it,” reminisces Wen Hsia, co- founder of WHBC.
“This project was envisioned as an inward-looking abode that safeguards its interior from the tropical sun and rain, and at the same time embraces the dense, natural floral enclave that the house sits within.”
![dsc_0221-copy-1024x680-1](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/dsc_0221-copy-1024x680-1.jpg)
Concrete Egg-Crate Structure
A concrete egg-crate structure was conceived so as to envelope the house to keep the heat out, while drawing daylight in to create comfortable spaces within.
The perforated nature of this envelope allows the existing overgrowth to grow into the volume of the house, thus softening the boundaries of inside and outside.
Sun and radiation resistant
The egg-crate structure is built of in-situ concrete as a sun-filtering device at the depth of 900mm, and this generous depth naturally allows daylight to filter through, but resists radiation.
Concrete fins of 150mm thickness further reinforce the structure by framing openings of various sizes at a controlled rhythm. This also facilitates the regulation of light intensity within while allowing the residents to follow the sun’s trajectory throughout the day.
![img_0850-copy-1024x682-1 Light and shadow animate the surfaces throughout the day in the Chempenai House, Kuala Lumpur.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/img_0850-copy-1024x682-1.jpg)
Creates Shadow Play
Wen Hsia reveals that this animation of the light and shadow throughout the day is her favourite part of the house: “We are also happy and proud of the concrete details, and how the clients can comfortably enjoy the house and the green all day long even during the hottest and rainiest days.”
While the architects recognised from the beginning that the site would prove a challenge, they chose to work with the site rather than fight against it.
![img_0690-copy-1024x682-1 Chempenai House in Kuala Lumpur displays an adherence to modernist principles, as well as an affinity with their immediate surroundings.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/img_0690-copy-1024x682-1.jpg)
House sits on sloping terrain
For instance, where the existing site slopes downwards to the back from the entry level. The design takes advantage of the sloping terrain to keep the dampness and humidity out within a tropical environment.
By arranging the spaces so as to keep most parts of the house raised from the ground, the house is elevated to sit among the canopy of trees.
![img_0637-copy-1024x650-1 The living, dining and pool are positioned at the entry level and features concrete in various finishes in Chempenai House, Kuala Lumpur.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/img_0637-copy-1024x650-1.jpg)
Living Room
The main spaces – living, dining, and the pool are positioned at the entry level, and the bedrooms are placed on the upper floor. Finally, a garage and service area sits on the lower ground. This ensures that dampness and pests are kept away, keeping the house airy and dry.
![img_1191-copy-768x1024-1 The main approach to the Chempenai House in Kuala Lumpur Damansara Heights is via a bridge flanked by multiple mature Albizia trees.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/img_1191-copy-768x1024-1.jpg)
The main approach to the Chempenai House in Kuala Lumpur Damansara Heights is via a bridge flanked by multiple mature Albizia trees.
A Jungle Sanctuary
Entering the Chempenai House, one gets the distinct impression that one has chanced upon the secret entrance to a jungle sanctuary. The main approach to the house is via a bridge flanked by multiple mature Albizia trees.
From the entrance, a relatively narrow walkway, adjacent to a stairway and an internal courtyard leads to the open living area.
![img_0574-copy-1024x683-1 The ingenious design ensures that the family can enjoy the house even during the hottest part of the day and heavy rain in the Chempenai House, Kuala Lumpur.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/img_0574-copy-1024x683-1.jpg)
Swimming Pool Deck
Upon arrival, the journey then opens outwards to a double volume deck reflected upon a pool. The pool and the adjoining garden are enclosed within the volume of this egg-crate structure, while being completely surrounded by green foliage as they hover close to the tropical canopy.
Looking beyond the pool and the garden, one is greeted with a clear and extended panoramic view of the forest. On the upper floors, windows are specially designed to capture views of big beautiful trees.
![img_0723-copy-1024x682-1 The furniture colour palette was similarly understated to keep the focus on the greenery in the Chempenai House Kuala Lumpur](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/img_0723-copy-1024x682-1.jpg)
While concrete and nature may seem like unlikely bedfellows, WHBC’s seemingly heavy concrete box touches the ground lightly, placing itself among the trees and encouraging the enduring landscape to grow within it.
![img_0836-copy-1024x682-1 Minimal finishes and walnut wood reinforce the elegant simplicity of the Chempenai House in Kuala Lumpur.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/img_0836-copy-1024x682-1.jpg)
Minimal finishes and walnut wood reinforce the elegant simplicity
House will be reclaimed by nature
This is largely due to the perforated façade which allows for the existing undergrowth to unfurl over surfaces in a consistent manner, as the house is slowly reclaimed by nature over time.
The notion of a hidden sanctuary is thus reinforced as visual harmony is achieved through this gradual marriage of building and jungle.
Indeed, living amidst such a tropical idyll, it’s unsurprising to find out that the clients love the house: “As the living area is well protected from the sun, it could be naturally ventilated throughout the day. At night, as the house is surrounded by so much green, the sound of the forest from all sorts of insects is really enchanting.”
Photography by Kent Soh