Architecture

[Kochie]

Hi, I have been lurking around the forum for a while and enjoying the posts from the regulars. My husband and I are hoping to make the move to Bali, maybe next year so I am trying to learn as mich as I can.
I have recently looked at a villa that is being built in the near future, and also some other villas that are available for rent or lease.
My question pertains to the architectural design. I understand the Balinese design and I understand that the new architecture has to reflect a certain amount of Balinese traditional design ( as it should ). However, for anyone living in villas with an open lounge living area how do you cope with things like insects, mosquitoes, storms, water coming in etc? Also, in the case of many I have looked at that are not in secure villas, do you have to have your own security to keep your villa safe when you are not there. And many I have looked at Have the large brick or block wall around it, doesn't this just block any breeze and make the air quite stagnant.
Sorry if question seems strange, but I am just trying to understand the whole concept and how expats cope with it.
Thanks in advance.

[ronb]

After living here a while, I find more and more of my time spent in the outdoor spaces such as Bales or balconies or wherever. These are places that cannot be screened off, and you wouldn't want to anyway. Occasionally, like when termites are swarming around, you may want to retreat indoors for an hour until they pass, but that's an exception. In the wet season you may want some roll-down bamboo blinds to stop the rain beating in too much. If you are outdoors with a laptop, and there is very heavy rain, the damp mist from the rain may make you close the laptop or go indoors. But when looking at houses, I am impressed if the outdoor spaces are large and inviting - and have power-points for laptops, and have fans.

[spicyayam]

I remember in Australia we had fly screens on all windows and doors. Where I live now, it's all open so any insects can get in. We have plenty of geckos that eat all of the insects. Sure you need to clean up the crap in the morning, but it's not too bad. Outside walls are a way to keep dogs, kids and chickens out of your place, but no matter how high the wall is, it's not going to stop a robber. You can grow things like bouganvilleas that grow like crazy and have sharp thorns on the top of your wall. I read that basil keeps mosquitoes away so I have been planting that all around the garden. Kind of interesting point about Balinese architectural home design, as you may find that local houses have very small windows, tiny rooms and are quite dark, from what I have seen. And btw, welcome to the forum!

[BKT]

As far as big block walls go they're actually less effective for keeping out the breeze than a picket fence, wind will travel up and over them

[Kochie]

thanks for replies, and it is good to be finally saying something in the forum rather then just reading what everyone else says.
do you feel that there is not such a problem with mossies with the open areas then. or do you have mossie coils etc.
maybe you just toughen up when you get there!
cheers all

[balidavo]

thanks for replies, and it is good to be finally saying something in the forum rather then just reading what everyone else says.
do you feel that there is not such a problem with mossies with the open areas then. or do you have mossie coils etc.
maybe you just toughen up when you get there!
cheers all

Started out using mozzie coils , but soon got sick of the smell ( plus the toxicity ) , plus over time I find to get less and less sensitive to insects to the point where if theyre not biting you , you dont care ..., and you also get a fondness off the geckos who help get rid of them for you.
Its a little bit of work occationally cleaning the cobwebs from daddy longlegs spiders which turns out to be a weekly job where I live , and the geckos seem to poo in the same areas ( thx geckos for not pooing on the beds and furnature. lol )
Rain , moisture , humidity , insects ...., its the tropics and its part of the parcel IMHO.

[phil170258]

We have one of those concrete walls around our place but there is always a wonderful breeze (as i type this it is rattling the bamboo chimes).

I hate mozzies, I mean hate them, but there is no way I would give up our open style of living for a 'lock-up'. I was in a lock-up the other day and it felt like I was in some soul-less apartment in the Gold Coast.

Why live in Bali and not live in Bali, if you know what I mean.

re your harden up comment, I was riding my bike through a group of Balinese off to a ceremony. They were all in traditional garb but one chap was sporting a t-shirt that said 'Harden the F*** Up!'

[Kochie]

So how do you deal with the Mozzies then? I do know what you mean. We have a house in Brisbane with a lovely front deck and great breezes and I often wish I could just take all the walls out! But.... I too hate Mozzies, but they LOVE me! And I never seem to get used to them.

[pollyanna]

Hi kochie, we love Balinese architecture and believe it is the style that works best in this climate. Our house is one of those like you’ve described in your post. But everyone is different and what bothers one person won’t bother another. (Yesterday I was in a warung sitting next to a teenager who was crying because she had “just speared a chicken” in her food. Good grief. I don’t eat meat but I thought that was a bit extreme.) Every decision you make will have its plusses and minuses so you’ll just choose what you think will suit you best. I’ll tell you what we’ve done.

I am the best mosquito repellent for everyone else because I attract every mosquito within sniffing distance and I really don’t like them. Firstly, we use mosquito coils. Secondly, we use ceiling fans. Thirdly, our house is located in an area where there are constant breezes. We weren’t aware of the breezes and how important they would ultimately be but our house is much more pleasant than the previous place we lived in Bali because of the breeze. All these things combined mean that we don’t have a mosquito problem.

We don’t like air conditioning and have designed our house accordingly. We have ceiling fans in every room and love them. Just as important, we have deep eaves around the house. That makes a very big difference to comfort. They keep out the hot midday sun. They protect us from rain. And they still allow the breezes to waft through the house. Unless you want a western house that could just as easily be in Los Angeles or Sydney seriously consider eaves. O.K. Time to get down from my soapbox.

Our property is surrounded by a wall on half the property and a fence on the other half. We are adjacent to a river ravine and didn’t want to lose the views that attracted us in the first place so on the eastern half of the property we have a fence and on the western half we have a wall that gives privacy. All this is in Balinese style and looks better than it might sound.

As for security, we recently had a home invasion. I won’t go into the details in this post but just say that the perpetrators didn’t come over the wall or the fence. They had done some gardening for us. They used a side gate to put out grass and closed the gate to make it looked locked but wasn’t. We made the big mistake of not checking. That is how they got in. People entering your house to work or for any other reason will be your weakest link and it makes sense to know who they are or just not let them in. We’re working on our security situation now and I’ll post more about it when we’ve made final decisions.

I hope this helps and answers a few of your questions. Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide to do.

[Kochie]

thanks, that is a very informative answer. I love the Balinese architecture and would hate to have a Western style house if/when i live there, which is why i am trying to find out how to deal with some of the issues that arise from the balinese architecture that we might not normally have to deal with here in oz. so thanks, you have helped a great deal.
Please do update me on your security issues and how you deal with it. I am probably a bit trusting and would never have thought of the people that I have hired being the ones that would breach that trust. so that is another great tip to be aware of.

I think if we are nearer the coast we will probably need air conditioning in the bedrooms at least. I am not particularly a fan of it, but my husband has cancer and part of his symptoms are not being able to cool down so well when its really hot. ( some of you may wonder why i would move to Bali, but I believe it will be far better for his health then living in the rat race we currently live in, and it is mostly the humidity in the wet season that knocks him around and we have that where we are at the moment!)

Your house sounds wonderful and thanks again for your informative answers