The Laweyan | JWRA studio

The Laweyan is a residential project located in an area called Kampong Laweyan, which is located in the city of SOLO, Indonesia. SOLO is a city of culture and is also full of history about the kingdoms that once triumphed in Indonesia, one of which was the Majapahit Kingdom. In Laweyan village itself, it is famous as a batik-producing area since the 19th century.

The original condition at the location of this project is still original like the conditions of the Kampong Laweyan area in the past, namely the high fence walls that form a typical road corridor in the Kampong Laweyan area and also still standing traditional Javanese houses which became a symbol of the prosperity of a batik trader in Kampong Laweyan at that time.

The laweyan residential design begins with an understanding of the history in this laweyan area. The architect decided to maintain the surrounding fence wall that forms the road corridor in the Kampong Laweyan area, and to preserve the traditional Javanese traditional house on the site as a form of appreciation for the history that had been built, then to meet the space needs of the occupants, the architect designed a modern building Contemporary that looks simple but elegant to accompany traditional buildings.

An interesting challenge when designing the laweyan house is when categorizing the types of traditional Javanese houses, because there are various types of traditional Javanese houses, both in terms of the roof structure and social level. All the details inherent in this traditional Javanese traditional house are recorded and then identified, this is where the design developed. In form, the traditional house has not changed, it is even more beautified, functionally, it is still used to receive guests.

The wooden pillars in this traditional house are rearranged with a grid system. Then this grid is used as a guideline for compiling structural columns in new buildings. Batik motifs that have ever been made, are remade by being carved on wooden boards and used as elements of partition walls

The new building with a modern contemporary style maximizes wide openings to enjoy the garden and is also visually connected to traditional house buildings, activities in the living room, kitchen dining are visually connected to traditional Javanese traditional houses. With a modern lifestyle, homeowners can enjoy the elegance of traditional Javanese house buildings without losing their historical value

Then, as a supporting building that functions as a car park, butler's kitchen, and also a house for household assistants, a 2-story building is made with the ground floor in the basement. This is the second challenge, which is the construction of a basement that borders the riverbank. So the architect made sure beforehand about the flood data from the data center at the local government. In the implementation of the construction, the basement area was built first, in addition to avoiding the arrival of the rainy season, the construction of the basement area is also related to repairs by repairing the surrounding soil retaining structures.