Alex Brown

Private Residence

REGION: Togean Islands, Sulawesi, Indonesia

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date: 2018

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My involvement in driving this desing project began nearly by accident (and developed out of an abundent need to utilize  my creative thought process). Departing Bali in 2017, and talking with a friend of what possibly might I do were I to turn expat, it turned out a friend of my firend had what was an intriguing opportunity: help design a private residence on an uninhabited island.  After a site visit in January 2018, I worked up a design strategy and client needs into a proposed program criteria (airport lounge activity commence). Working in construction management full-time, I spent the beginning months of 2018 filling early hours before sunrise and long hours after sunset with conference calls, diagraming, sketching, and countless hours of research and analysis.

Initially planning to help supervise construction, I began learning Indonesian with some seriousness.  While ultimately I did not participate in this build, the main house followed our initial plan and some early process design ideas were incorporated (ex: shaded perimeter deck, venting at gable ends).  Construction began late 2019, with some of the finishing touches continuing to take place (2020). Being uninhabited and without infrastructure, solar electricity, composting, waste management, and rain catchment were all implemented.

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Completed as an eco-tourism spot in 2020, you can now visit Togo Eang ( https://www.togoeang.com/ ) and learn about the culture and conservation efforts through partnership with local villages and the Togean Conservation Foundation.