The Office Of New Life Stories

D-Associates Architect’s office building in Jakarta is just how principals Gregorius Yolodi and Maria Rosantina want it— green, creative, and nurturing—just as they want their team to be

- Judith Torres

We arrive before 8:00, too early to catch the architects at work. As we step back to photograph the full height of D-Associates’ three-story office building, a squirrel skitters across on a cable above us, disappearing into the leaves of a tree. We are in the middle of Jakarta’s ‘cold’ season, enjoying daytime temperatures in the low 30s, without the cloying humidity that wilts even those accustomed to tropical weather. The dry heat has caused the vines veiling the building to brown, but the façade is nevertheless quite likable. The raw concrete and naked brick surfaces are unpretentious, and the vines and abundance of leafy branches sheltering the glass cladding speak of the principal architects’ sensible affinity to nature.

The office caretaker, expecting our arrival, opens the front gates, revealing a gravel driveway that descends into a basement. Flanking the driveway, a pedestrian ramp on the left and staircase on the right go up to the ground floor.

The pelataran

The lot is long and narrow—48 by 8.5 meters, bound on three sides by a brick wall three stories high. Designed by principals Gregorius Supie Yolodi and Maria Rosantina, the office building maintains a 1.25-meter clearance from the two long perimeter walls and a 2-meter setback from the back perimeter wall, allowing air to circulate around the building and light to illumine all sides. A constant breeze from the street funnels into the open-plan first floor, making it a most pleasurable spot for the firm’s pelataran or dining room.