Clan Living – The Founder: a new model of micro-living for digital nomads in Bali

Since the pandemic, the concept of telecommuting and staycations have gained  popularity. Post-pandemic, more people are adopting a lifestyle that allows the flexibility of working from anywhere. Following this trend, Clan Living –The Founder takes shape in Ubud, Bali, as a space that aims to combine two anomalies—work and vacation. Realising this vision in the language of Balinese architecture, Indonesia-based Ruang Nyaman has designed Clan Living as a space that reinvents a new typology in bamboo construction. "The vision of Clan Living was to create a new model of micro-living architecture where entrepreneurs find their own space for private living as well as places to work, share ideas, and gather with others," share the architects.

Located in the centre of Ubud, the Indonesian architects explored the new design as a renovation of an existing building. The building rests in a denser area of the context, accompanied by buildings reflecting diverse architectural styles. Clan Living is surrounded by different buildings featuring sloped tiled roofs, a common architectural element in the area, with their own entrance featuring a long turquoise pool and organic bamboo structures. Since bamboo is a material that is widely seen in Balinese design, finding it in a hospitality building isn't unusual. However, bamboo architecture mostly engages in dialogue with nature and its context, contrasting to Clan Living, where it aims to function inwards.

The linear pool that runs through the middle of the site separates the plot and built structures into two. On the north side, the communal space takes shape in the complete materiality of bamboo. Spanning two levels, the functions are sheltered by a massive roof structured in bamboo and covered in thatch. Multiple seating spaces and a shared kitchen occupy the lower floor. With the pool as the point of convergence, all the individual seatings face towards the pool and the three-storied accommodation building. Led by a curved bamboo ramp, the upper floor of the communal space, appearing to be a mezzanine floor, has shared tables. The overhang of the thatched roof and the placement of the table partially regulate the visual connectivity of the area from the outdoors and vice versa, thereby creating more privacy for the visitors occupying the upper floor. Maintaining the essence of bamboo construction techniques, the communal space presents the material in multitude ways. To create stable organic shapes in the structure, the architects have employed the bamboo structural system of inclined posts, curvilinear beams, and cross-bracings, a technique employed in most organic bamboo construction. Adding to it, bamboo is also a key material for the lighting design and the cabinet doors. While wood, concrete, and metal also come into play in the material palette, the emphasis stays on following an earthy tone for its aesthetics.

On the other side of the pool, the main accommodation unit spans three levels. In comparison with the communal space in bamboo architecture, the private areas are a bricolage of materials. As the spaces are designed into an existing structure, the architects have aimed to use different natural materials to layer the conventionality of the building and relate it to a communal space. On the grid facade, a secondary skin with arch-shaped bamboo and hanging nets adds a vernacular presence to the facade design. Complimenting this detail, the balcony/terrace spaces of the individual rooms adorn a sculptural lounge chair with arranged coffee branches. In an arch-like form, the repetition of the lounge chairs provides the facade with a symmetrical and balanced sophistication. Along with it, the arched lounge chairs and curved bamboo skin on the facade help the three-storey building in resembling and relating to the organic design of the communal space.

Every room of Clan Living opens to the view of the pool and the bamboo pavilion, once again, reinstating its functionality to look inwards. The interior design of the room uses a mezzanine system with a unique staircase to connect the living room and the bedroom. The rooms on the ground floor and first floor accommodate a living room, study, mezzanine bedroom, and a terrace with an arch-like lounge seating, while the rooms on the second floor have a long work stool table with exciting views. The material palette of the interior design comprises a mix of wood, metal, concrete, coffee branches, and stone.

While the architectural language of the building, on either side of the pool appears to be different, it is merged into a single design unit through a very thoughtful landscape design. The pool design connects the two different styles and acts as a point of transition between them. While the blue of the water and beige of the bund walls complement the warm colour palette of the material, the shape of the pool, in a very subtle visual, plays an integral role. The pool boundary on the side of the communal space reflects the curves and waves of its organic architecture, and that on the other side mimics the linearity of the building. However, through this offset nature of the pool borders, the two structures appear to rest in stark contrast, engaging in a common dialogue. Through the gradual transition from the geometry of the grid and circles to the flexibility of curves and organic shapes, the architects maximise the potential of bamboo to support most shapes.

Through an interesting coming together of material-specific intervention assisted by a landscape design, Ruang Nyaman designs Clan Living to cater to digital nomads, creating a sense of comfort that combines work and vacation. "The Clan Living will grow throughout time, and make it a strong foundation in understanding spaces through new ways of view to achieve a new perspective of a good living space, as we create and build today for tomorrow's living," share the architects. By using bamboo construction as a symbolism for digital nomads' flexibility of working in the current era, the architecture aims to be a personification of changing lifestyles.