ATVEAR HOUSE
Home for Creativity:
A Countryside Sanctuary for a Creative Life
A thousand-year-old temple, Wat Atvear, is the spiritual heart of an emerging residential area on the outskirts of Siem Reap. Despite being just 10 minutes from the city center, the area remains a tranquil pocket of rice fields, sugar palms, red-earth roads, and vernacular houses.
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We had to resist the natural impulse to create a house that maximized its connection to the surrounding countryside. The area’s inevitable urbanization would almost certainly interrupt the idyllic scenery in the future, so we decided to create a more insular space, with walls on three sides to shield against unwelcome views.
The walls form a sanctuary for an evolving internal ecosystem, ensuring a connection with nature can be enjoyed regardless of the changes in the area. They also allow the single-story home to spread out across much of the plot. Rendered in a pigment that mirrors the local red earth, they act as extensions of the rooms at times, forming linear gardens and courtyards alongside the building.
This insular approach allowed the living space to become boldly extroverted, with one generous facade opening through sliding glass doors to the garden. The voluminous, column-free space appears to blend seamlessly with the outside.
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A later decision to add a fourth wall at the front allowed us to open up the house by removing a redundant staircase in favor of additional glass across the front facade. This change was technically straightforward thanks to the simplicity of the house’s pavilion-like structure, an intentional consideration that will continue to allow for modifications into the future.
The initial orientation is tailored to meet the distinct needs of the owners, who both work from home. One is a designer, photographer, and artist, who values natural light, garden views, and flexible spaces. The other is a musician and producer, who requires soundproofing above all. These contradictory needs are catered for primarily in the careful arrangement of their two studios in relation to the rest of the house.
A passion for food led to combining the kitchen with the living space. Unusual in traditional Khmer homes, this contemporary approach treats cooking as a unifying public activity rather than a private task hidden at the back of the house.
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Inside its walls, Atvear House delivers an impressive visual impact, yet from the outside, the building projects modesty. As the neighborhood slowly adapts to its new residential identity, Atvear House maintains its sanctuary of creativity. Its introverted design and flourishing garden protect the space as a green oasis, regardless of what change may occur in the future.
Alongside the artworks and musical instruments, the owners’ commitment to Buddhist rituals infuses the house with a spiritual continuity that has flourished in the area for centuries. In Atvear House, the area’s cultural legacy finds a creative, contemporary expression.