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Gorgeous Tropical House from Guz

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Singapore-based Guz Architects is developing a recognizable look in their sophisticated, airy and naturally ventilated tropical luxury homes. Working with project architect Gan Ren Ying, in their Tangaa House, Guz has casually defined another lovely space, as photographed by Patrick Bingham Hall.

There is an indefinable quality of old Singapore in their newest residence basking in the tranquil tropical sun.

The gracious spaces created are harmonious and work by day and by night to make an entrance, bringing visitors right up into the house at the second floor level.

Like their Cluny House Guz Architects’ Tangaa House is a contemporary interpretation of a traditional courtyard house, laid out around a central green courtyard with a double height stair and entry area forming the focal point of the project.

Bamboo slats define a large and generous roof that allows air to circulate through it, pulling up a breeze up cooled by the grass lawn and the pool which surrounds the inner courtyard area.

From the entrance, the pool is interpreted as an ornamental pool by a set of steps in front, seemingly set in air, that step up through a hole in the roof into the sky.

Planted with a garden above, the stairs provide a cooling walk on air above the water to the family area of the second floor.

But when descending, the stairs show their opaque side, creating the sense of security as you descend into the manmade second “earth,” sliced by creamy white walls, that has been created on the second floor with a green lawn. Making these green roofs for lawns at the second floor is a signature element of the architecture of Guz Architects, that naturally cools open air second floor rooms with the transpiration of lush plantings. We covered another example here: Lush Singapore Lawns Green the Meera House.

The pool below wraps around two sides and, unusually, is completely clad in clear glass to form a “box” of blue water that appears to counter the white box of the roof above it. But stairs set into it lead down to a deep pool, to utilize an interesting energy-saving idea that Guz first used in their wonderful Fish House.

Like with the Fish House, Guz uses an underground room to cool the house with a swimming pool, reducing energy use for cooling in the tropical climate in a sophisticated and deftly executed gesture of casually elegant ease.