Captured Horizon

A site-inspired scheme reflects an architect’s original take on a detached dwelling in the Negeri Sembilan countryside.

- Nizar Musa

Following a years-long Italian sojourn, a return to native Malaysia for a professional couple marked a chapter of new opportunities.

On the agenda was starting a business, as well as finding and building a home for themselves.

Foregoing the bustle of townships and suburbia, they decided on a piece of land within the 246-acre Planters’ Haven, an exclusive Sime Darby development of sprawling greenery in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

What was left was the design of the house itself, which they entrusted to established practice MJKanny Architect to deliver.

In the true spirit of genius loci, the architect looked to the site for inspiration, and was duly rewarded.

FUNNEL VISION

Melvyn Kanny shares his insight on the choice of location.

“They (the couple) were looking around, they shortlisted a few places. Planters’ Haven was the one they liked. All the plots are an acre in size, so there was a lot of space which suited them as they have two big dogs,” he says.

In considering the young husband-and-wife duo (both engineers with European exposure), Kanny opted for an unconventional approach.

“The site appears small at first, but as you walk in, it gradually opens up to the horizon, much like a funnel. So why not explore the idea of something that unveils itself?”

That conceptual underpinning informs the single-storey 710m2 domicile’s initial outlook: from the main avenue the building appears unassuming against the forested backdrop, a projection of low massing consisting of a cloistered entrance in off-form concrete, and a connecting brickwork garage.