Legombang Treehouse reinterprets traditional Balinese architecture as a contemporary tropical family home, using reclaimed timber, passive design, and a treehouse-like structure woven around the site's existing trees.
Designed by Cave Urban co-founder Jed Long for his own family, Legombang Treehouse is located in Pantai Lembeng, Ketewel, Bali. As both architect and client, Jed had the opportunity to explore his own approach to tropical family living without the constraints of a conventional client brief.
The design is rooted in craftsmanship and materiality that is genuine to Bali. The design follows a 9-square grid that is informed by Asta Kosala Kosali, the traditional Balinese system of architecture reinterpreted in three dimensions to create a balance of solid and open spaces across two levels. He used recycled Ulin posts in their original form to create this grid of interconnected spaces that form a treehouse concept around the existing trees on site.
The house explores tropical living by making use of shade and breeze to passively cool the site, alongside the interplay of enclosed and open spaces. Jed’s favourite thing about the project is that they have not needed to use air-conditioning, showing that climatic design can eliminate the need for energy intensive cooling.
Located in Pantai Lembeng Ketewel, this family home is imagined as an inhabited canopy. The perforated brick boundary wall becomes the edge of the house itself, softening the threshold so that garden and covered outdoor rooms feel continuous. Rather than separating inside and outside, the house allows them to overlap.
Traditional Balinese houses are arranged as compounds, guided by Asta Kosala Kosali, which sets out orientation, hierarchy, and the relationship between domestic life and the spiritual axis. This project draws on that logic and stretches it across two levels. Instead of detached pavilions, a series of interlocking spaces sit beneath one unifying roof, combining enclosed rooms with shaded open areas that respond to daily life in a tropical climate.
The roof and layout are oriented to capture prevailing sea breezes and protect the house from direct sun. Existing mature trees along the site edge were retained and folded into the design. The large roof plane extends their shade, creating generous cover over circulation and living areas. In section, the house is arranged so air can move laterally and rise through a central void, releasing heat at high level and supporting passive cooling. The building opens toward the river and frames views to the beach, while turning its more solid faces toward neighboring plots.
At ground level, living, dining, and kitchen spaces read as sheltered outdoor rooms. Bedrooms are grouped closely to keep family life connected. Walkways and layered thresholds allow children to move through the house in different ways, with moments of visual connection between levels. Materiality is honest and tactile. Reclaimed round timber posts are used as structural tree trunks, left irregular with their marks and variations visible. Joints are hand cut on site, adapting to each trunk rather than forcing the material into rigid alignment. This process of reuse reduces new material demand while highlighting craft. Beams are joined and extended where needed, and those junctions remain visible as part of the architectural language.
Polished concrete floors act as a calm base against the expressive timber structure. Lime plaster walls help regulate humidity and soften the interior atmosphere. The gabled roof is intentionally simple, tying the compound together and allowing the structure to remain visible. Openings, louvers, and sliding panels let spaces shift between open and enclosed depending on weather, supporting flexibility through wet and dry seasons.
The pool is formed from locally sourced limestone, laid in a natural pattern to evoke a rock pool rather than a conventional basin. Stepped terraces create different depths for children and adults, echoing the logic of rice terraces while responding to everyday use. Offcuts of limestone are reused in paving and landscape details, continuing the material loop across the site.
Landscape design by Honey Long brings planting into the core of the house. Vegetation is drawn inward so that interior spaces feel embedded in the garden rather than separate from it. Trees reinforce shade and privacy while maintaining orientation towards the river and the ocean. Over time, planting from upper levels will cascade downward, allowing the house to mature as a living environment.
Developed through frequent site visits, the project evolved alongside construction. Adjustments and reinterpretations became opportunities rather than setbacks. The result is a family home grounded in Bali’s climate and traditions, materially expressive, adaptable, and shaped around the rhythms of everyday life.
"My favorite thing about the project is that we haven't needed to use air conditioning, showing that climatic design can eliminate the need for energy-intensive cooling." — Jed Long.
