House 07 — STUDIO NOMA

House 07: living room in board-marked concrete, glazed to a stone courtyard and the hills beyond — Fig. 01The long room, looking south over the courtyard to the hills.

Site

Eleven metres of fall, old rubber trees, and the water to the south-west.

A family house on a steep plot above the water. One board-marked wall follows the contour for forty-six metres; every room is set against it and opens the other way, to a courtyard of granite and planting and to the hills beyond.

The plot drops steeply from the road to the lower boundary. We kept the trees on the lower half and put the house where the ground was already disturbed, so that from below it reads as a single wall in the trees.

Plot: 1 180 m²
Fall: 11.0 m, north to south
Aspect: South-west, to the water

A long concrete wall beside a stone path, the low roofs of the house and the trees beyond — Fig. 02From the lower garden: the spine wall among the trees.

A concrete stair rising toward a window, light falling across the steps — Fig. 03The stair down from the road.

One wall

One wall, many rooms.

A board-marked concrete wall, forty-six metres long, follows the contour and holds back the road. Everything else is light by comparison: the rooms are hung from it in a single row and open the other way, one after another, to the courtyard.

Along the top of the wall a slot of glass runs the full length of the house, so the concrete is washed with light from above at every hour and the rooms never need a lamp before dusk.

Dwg A-101House 07Ground floor planScale 1:200Noma / KL01 Entry02 Kitchen03 Dining04 Living05 Study06 Bedroom07 Bedroom08 Main bedroom09 Bath10 Courtyard11 Pool12 Utility

Double-height concrete void lit by a narrow slot — Fig. 05Under the light slot.

Light

Shade first,then light.

The roof oversails the glass by 2.4 metres. We sized it so that the December noon sun — the lowest it gets from the south — stops just short of the glass, and the June sun, north of overhead, falls straight down the wall through the slot.

Dwg A-201House 07Section A–A, through the living roomScale 1:100Noma / KLSun angles for George Town, 5.4° N, at solar noon.

Morning light in narrow bars on a pale wall — Low light along the wall from the east end.

A concrete room lit from openings in the floor and roof, its own shadow pattern on the walls — Overhead, the room in the shadow of its roof.

A single diagonal beam of evening light across dark concrete — Level light, the whole depth of the floor.

The long room under a concrete soffit, glazed along its whole length to the hills

Forty-six metres of glass, all of it in shade at noon.

Fig. 09 — The long room

Material

Concrete steps under the shadow of leaves — Fig. 10Steps to the courtyard, cast against the same boards as the wall.

Four materials, chosen for how they will look in thirty years.

01Board-marked concreteSpine wall, soffitsCast against 150 mm meranti boards. Left as struck; it darkens in the rain and dries pale.
02ChengalFloors, screens, doorsA dense local hardwood that needs no treatment outside and silvers within two monsoons.
03Penang graniteCourtyard, stepsFlamed and laid in long courses, so the courtyard is cool underfoot by evening.
04Lime plasterBedroomsBreathes with the humidity; warmer than paint in low light.

A long timber bench against a board-marked concrete wall, lit from a window — Fig. 11Chengal bench, concrete wall.

Window light falling across a concrete wall — Fig. 12Afternoon on the bedroom wall.

The garden room with timber screen and built-in bench — Fig. 13The garden room at the west end, timber screen half open.

Facts

Location: Tanjung Bungah, Penang
Type: Residential
Year: 2026
Scope: Architecture + Interior
Area: 420 m²
Status: Completed
Plot: 1 180 m²
Programme: Four bedrooms, study, garden room
Structure: In-situ concrete wall and slabs
Design / build: 2023–24 / 2024–26
Materials: Board-marked concrete, Chengal timber, Penang granite, Lime plaster
Drawings: A-101 plan, A-201 section

Site

One wall

Light

Material

Facts

Project facts