Two Homes One Roof | Stunning Terrace House Transformation | Sustainable Architecture
Homes don’t exist in isolation. They breathe within their surroundings. When an architect designs with sensitivity to the environment and weather, something magical is created. Homes become more than just practical. It feels right, natural, and comfortable. And when homes feel comfortable in its surroundings, the people who live in them often feel the same too.
At first glance, this feels like a single home. But this house was designed as two — a house within another house. When the whole family gathers, the upper floor opens up. But in quieter seasons, life settles comfortably on the ground floor. This is a thoughtful kind of flexibility — one that respects privacy and space.
“The name of the project is called Duo Duplex. It’s meant for a house that can be extended from a single family to an extended family. So it’s actually for two generations and three generations — the possibility of extending the house,” shared Wong Wei Ping of Tetawove Atelier, the architect of this project.
“The biggest challenge of the project is actually a very tiny and narrow site. It’s about 20 meter times 60 meter. The space planning for the project is very much — we design it because it’s a narrow space, so we had to design it on a section plan. So imagine it’s like two L-block put together.
The first L-block on the ground floor is for one family, meaning you have your living rooms, your dining rooms, and one bedroom. And there’s a staircase connecting the upper block of this L. Another family will be sitting on another block. It’s like an L-block sitting like this. So this part will be the family living, and the part on the top will be the bedrooms. So it’s like an interlocking of two L-blocks put together.”
The entrance greets you with quiet charm in a small bubbling pond. A calm scenery stages the living room. But the pond is more than just ornamental. The water cools the hot air coming in from the road through the slits in the facade. This creates a refreshing transition between the outside and the calm within.
“One of the reasons we are doing a pond there is we want to harness rainwater. We want to do a house that also celebrates the rainy season. When it’s raining, the water — even our gutter — it actually got a lot of perforation. So the gutter is actually collecting water from the roof, and then we bring down the water through all these cables hanging on the gutter and bring the water down to the pond,” shared Wong Wei Ping.
The ground floor opens up in a fluid layout, where the living, kitchen, and dining come together harmoniously. In contrast, the kitchen conveys practicality and endurance with a concrete countertop. With furnishings that echo a rustic industrial style, this is a design language for a house unafraid of imperfections.
The materials of concrete, metal, and wood may sound cold at first, but it’s how they’re balanced that brings warmth.
“Well, I think one of the reasons we use concrete is the durability — the strength of concrete. And we’re also not thinking that we want to repaint the buildings every now and then. So concrete, by far, is the best selection,” the architect shared.
The ground floor, though open in feel, is intentionally layered in function. Folding doors divide the remaining space into a home office. The wooden flooring creates a balance between industrial and intimate that defines the heart of this home.
Connecting the floors is a black steel staircase. Its openness allows air to circulate freely and natural light to filter down. It’s an example of how every design decision serves more than just form but also function and flow.
The first floor features a guest room, an open loft, and a family area with a balcony. As you reach the first floor, you’re greeted by a guest room of exposed red brick walls and its own bathroom. A hallway with a glass floor leads to a family room, and the glass adding an open feel.
The family room sits in a tucked away corner of the home with its own small kitchen, a cozy breakfast nook, and a balcony opening up to nature. It’s a quieter counterpart to the main living space downstairs — a space to slow down, to breathe, and to relax.
The living room at the first floor is opened up to the garden in the front. Also, this living room is connected by a staircase directly from the street outside to this balcony on the first floor. At this living room, you can find there’s a double volume that we have a skylight at the edge of the roof to bring natural light in.
Overlooking this lounge, a loft opens up above. High windows invite sunlight in, and the loft becomes a cozy reading space. Together, these spaces paint the picture of a home in two parts — able to merge when family gathers, and separate when solitude is welcome.
The second floor is home to the master bedroom. Surrounded by high glass windows, the entire space is bathed in natural light. For moments of retreat, a second layer of curtains are tucked deeper into the room. Exposed red brick walls meet raw concrete surfaces, creating a space that feels grounded and honest.
“The biggest challenge is how can we not receive too much heat because it’s on the rooftop. So what we do is that we decided that the roof of the master room got to be planter box — got to be green roof. So we make it like stepping planters so we can put plants on plants. By doing so, we can actually reduce the heat gain and make the master room cooler. They reduce the home’s dependence on artificial cooling, letting nature do what it does best. It’s another expression of how homes care for its surroundings,” shared the architect.
In many ways, this home isn’t just a house. It is an architect’s designed response to climate, to its surroundings, and to lifestyle — where function and feeling meet in quiet harmony.
“I think the biggest challenge for Malaysian housing is how can we design a house that the lifespan of the house can literally span longer. From our generations to our children’s, how can we do a house that we can actually have everyone stay in one house if we decide to stay together. At the same time, still keep those privacy,” shared Wei Ping.
“So I find it could be a bit hard for the younger generation to own a house. Perhaps a landed property is very, very difficult. So how can we build in a very, very small plot of land, we can build a house that can cater for one or two families — that is the challenge.”
But just as we were leaving, something else caught our eye. Right beside the communal garden on the ground floor stood a striking yet humble red brick structure. We couldn’t help but wonder what lay behind these walls.
And to our surprise, we learned that the space was designed by no one other than Seksan — a visionary architect who sparked a movement that redefined Malaysian architecture. A movement rooted in simplicity and sustainability — that design should serve everyone.
If you enjoyed this content, don’t forget to check out this terrace house transformation article, the Light Tunnel House that imbues a sustainable lifestyle.
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