The Window House | Asia’s Most Extraordinary Homes | Modern Concrete Design
Perched on the edge of a lush forest, the Window House by Ar. Lee Cherng Yih from Formzero Architecture redefines modern living in Malaysia. Through carefully positioned windows, each room frames a unique view, seamlessly connecting indoor spaces with the surrounding nature. More than just openings to the outside, these windows become portals to light, landscape, and a reimagined way of experiencing home.
“One time my friends passed by my house during construction. He asked if my architect built highways, factories, etc. The home was all raw materials and cement. He asked me, ‘Is it for building a factory?’ I also began to wonder if this was right—making such a different design—but I have faith in my architect,” shared the homeowners, Mr Chung and Emily.
Concrete is one of the most commonly used materials in architecture, playing a vital role in the creation of skyscrapers and expressive architectural forms. Its advantages lie in its cost efficiency, durability, and fire resistance — but its most impactful strength is its versatility. This adaptability continues to shape and influence the modern architectural landscape we see today.
When a house is sited right on the edge of a reserved forest, a seamless correspondence between the house and nature would certainly become the priority of the design. But what if the clients think otherwise?
For this project, the house owners expressed no interest in the outdoor space or the surrounding nature, but rather wanted to maximize the interior volume as part of the design brief. This paradoxical situation was transformed into an inspirational thought for the architect.
“When I first found out that the client was looking for an architect to build on top of this hill, I was very excited, mainly because the site had a huge view towards a reserved forest,” shared the architect, Lee Cherng Yih.
“But there was one thing that really bothered me—they were not interested in having a house with a lot of landscape, which contradicted my personal interest.”
“I always want houses that are surrounded by landscape and have a seamless spatial relationship between the inside, outside, and the surrounding nature. So we had to figure out a strategy to cater to two big challenges: number one, I wanted the house to be as naturally ventilated as possible; number two, I wanted the house to have a subtle relationship with the landscape, yet still be acceptable to the clients.”
“Thus, the idea of a house within a house was conceived. So when we designed this giant origami shell that acts purely as an external scheme, while inside there is a series of stacked boxes like the actual house itself. In between this external shell and the internal boxes, a layer of landscape is housed, creating a buffer between the two spaces,” shared the architect.
The design concept of the Window House departs with three tectonic approaches, manipulating the form and function of windows. By doing so, the ultimate aim is to strengthen the house owner’s bond with the existing context without diluting the design brief. From east to west, this house is wrapped in an additional layer of perforated concrete walls, which appears like a shell.
Apart from acting as thermal protection with cross ventilation, the shell is the first layer to control privacy. Between the house and the concrete shell, multi-level of landscapes are inserted between the house and the shell to create an ambiguous condition, making the landscape appear more like an indoor space.
The concrete shell is shaped in a telescoping form, it is tapered at the front and widened towards the forest, like creating a giant window frame to look out to the forest. At the same time, the tapered front facade is projected to the street, that creates a more human scale house.
“I used to like indoors more than outdoors. I didn’t appreciate nature because I grew up in Kuala Lumpur city center. My architect said, ‘Hey, the environment here is so good, you should enjoy the outdoors more.’ I agreed, so we made a house where the windows stay open all year round—365 days,” the houseowners shared.
“The windows you see from the outside are always open. From inside looking out, it’s like a painting. Our home has windows of many sizes,” shared the homeowners.
“The name of this project is Window House. It come with two very specific meanings or I would say it is also used as a design strategy,” shared the architect.
“So the first one is while all the rooms are required to face the forest, but the budget is tight, so we cannot have full windows everywhere. We decided to give a specific window size and position to every single space, ensuring every room and every spaces in the house has a curated view outside,” explains the architect.
“Second, the green buffer between the house and the shell, it’s actually also used as sort of a window, filling the space with greenery that controls privacy and sun shading.”
“What you see every morning when you wake up will be different. The trees outside grow a little every day. Sometimes the trees bloom. Sometimes they don’t. The trees sway with the wind and birds sing. Both indoors and outdoors are connected,” shared the homeowners.
“On the ground floor, open spaces maximize the relationship with greenery. Whereas right after you enter the study room, it has a very good relationship with the buffer space which are the greens. Beyond that is a staircase serving as the central core of the house. The staircase contrasts with the heavy concrete shell, appearing lighter while acting as vertical movement throughout the home,” shared the architect.
“And you also see that we also have a very heavy concrete wall to serve as a support of the staircase, so that they will enhance this experience of vertical movement. And while you go upstairs basically all the private rooms are facing the forest side, whereas if you go into every single bedroom like I say all the window’s position and the size are purposely designed in a specific way. Whereas all the less important room actually facing the road. So the whole house is basically turned around,” shared the architect.
“And when you go to the top floor which is the level 3 is the family sort of entertainment area where they have the AV room, the band jam room and the dancing studios where also integrated into the entire form of the roof,” shared the architect.
“There are two main reasons at the end that bubble deck was the solution for the mains structure design and also it contribute to how it makes a form. The first one is which is the key one that it allowed a very fast bend between column to column and we do not need to stick to a certain column grid, so everything can be a bit more random and free. So for this house every floor plans the layouts they change a lot from floor to floor, so that solve us a lot of problem so we can freely move around the column a lot,” explained the architect.
“On top of that when we come to the roof the bubble deck is also giving us the benefit of allow us to have a quite a far cantilever without adding additional beam. As you know once you add a beam then we will lose the effect of this external shell. The second I would say the convenience part come with the time saving. So bubble deck did help us to speed up the casting of the concrete where because they come in precast panels. So I think that is the benefit of the bubble deck for this project,” shared the architect.
“I didn’t have much time to enjoy this home until the Movement Control Order (MCO) came. I’m beyond thankful—it gives me a new perception of nature and helps me slow down my pace. My little daughter adores sunsets, and during MCO, we went to the top floor to watch them together.
“That’s when I truly felt the beauty of nature. I think space really is crucial—it interacts with your children and warms your heart to see it. Building this home was costly, but I think it helped our family reconnect,” shared the homeowner.
“I’m glad they changed their perception toward landscape, open air, and how the surroundings can influence daily life,” the architect said.
At Design Seed, our vision is to share extraordinary designs, proudly presenting amazing architecture from Malaysia.
The Window House is already a renowned property, featured in multiple platforms, including a book by our friend Prof. Robert Powell titled Tropical Malaysian House, selling out over 2,000 copies. Check out this fantastic book here!
This episode is a collaboration between Design Seed and Atelier International, aiming to raise awareness of the design scene.
If you enjoyed this story, don’t forget to check out this stunning luxury tropical villa that opens to its own river and nature.
Thank you for taking the time to read this Article. Stay tuned for more updates!
