TROPICAL MODERNISM
KERRY HILL

BY:
NADIA FAZILLAH MOHD FADZIR

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
Kerry Hill is an architect famous for his hotel design in tropical Asia. He was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1943. He studied at Perth Technical College and then pursued his studies in University of Western Australia and graduated in 1968. He was one of the first eight architecture degree graduates of the university. After graduated, he worked for Jeffrey Howlett and Bailey in Perth for three years, from 1969 to 1971. He worked at new Perth Concert Hall and acknowledged Jeffrey Howlett as his important mentor in architecture.
Then, he began to apply for jobs in United States but had no luck. He finally accepted to work for Palmer & Turner in Hong Kong and left Australia in 1972, to discover an uncertain journey that would inevitably inform the next 40 years of his practice. His first project as he took up his position in the firm was as a resident site architect for Bali Hyatt Hotel project in Bali, Indonesia. However, the project which supposed took about three months had been extended for more than 30 years. The project was never done, but it led to another project within this region. This is the starting point where he was introduced into a small community of Australian expatriates which included senior architect Peter Muller and the painter Donald Friend, old Asia hands, which then lead mark this an important period in crafting attitude to living and working in Asia, to respond on the differences between the culture and mysteries of Asia architecture. From 1974 to 1978 he was given responsibilities to manage the Palmer & Turner office branch in Jakarta.
He finally established his own firm, Kerry Hill Architects in Singapore in 1979 with given the first project in Bali, which never been completed. The firm gained its early reputation with a series of elegantly designed hotels in the most exotic of locations. Due to this, Hill often being stamped as an hotel architect for his success in designed a lot modern tropical hotels and resorts. Hill believed in himself that he is able to break the norm of the practice which always dealing with such projects by limiting and been selective in the commissions he accepted for the firm.
He is now become a part-time lecturer at some of famous schools such as National University of Singapore, University of Hawaii, University of Western Australia and the University of Queensland. As a director of the Singapore-based practice Kerry Hill Architects, he is one of most influential figure in South East Asian architecture over the past three decades. He has completed some of the most architecturally ambitious and resolved projects to be found in South-East Asia, work which is resolutely modern while in a traditional setting. Kerry’s practice has completed a significant body of work across the region, including a growing list of high quality hotel and resort work, a number of award-winning houses, mixed-use developments, and public projects.
While Kerry’s practice is based in Singapore, where it is highly respected by the local architectural community, it also has an office in Fremantle in WA. His work has been published in books, journals and magazines in countries from Australia to Germany, England, Japan, Italy and the United States.
INFLUENCE
During his early stage in the architecture world, Kerry Hill was influenced by Geoffry Bawa, one of the architects involve in the project Bali Hyatt Hotel. He was influenced by Bawa’s issues on tropicality and how to respond to the local Sri Lankan setting in a modern way but still incorporate with nature and the tropical context of the place.
Among all architects, Louis Kahn is the one who constantly played the biggest role in influencing him. What was he learnt form Louis Kahn is in term of focus on the discipline of plan and developing an encompassing spatial order in designing. He sort of inspired by Louis Kahn ability to manipulate light and material, to create a connection between modern and traditional and also to simplify a complex building program in a strong simple forms. Hill’s designs are always in ordered in certain grid, with a focus that gives resolution to the whole. He appreciated the development of a simple but disciplined plan early in the design process, allowing the focus then to move on to other aspects such as materiality and incorporation with the nature.
Besides Kahn, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies Van Der Rohe also influenced Kerry Hill in this field. Le Corbusier influenced him through the strength of his originality of ideas and fidelity to them; Frank Lloyd Wright for clearly defined focus in term of planning with layered and overlapping volume; Mies van der Rohe for abstraction of the plans and how he pursuit of an idea remain a point of reference.

ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH
“The most unifying strategy in our work is the plan.
Our plans have their roots in Modernism on one hand and in ancient precedents on the other, where the plan often derived from an idealized diagram of spatial order.”
“Plans embody abstract notions of building form and volume.
They are keys that unlock an idea.”

Figure 2: Developed sketches of the Ogilvie House
Figure 2: Developed sketches of the Ogilvie House

Figure 1: Initial Sketches for Ogilvie House
Figure 1: Initial Sketches for Ogilvie House

Kerry Hill initiates and explores design solutions mainly through the use of simple small ideology diagrams drawn in blue pencil. He sees this technique as a mental exercise that allows ideas to emerge. They are highly abstracted diagrams reduced to a very few lines that contain the kernel of the central informing architectural idea and the ordering strategy to be used. Often, the diagram in plan appears to be interchangeable with the diagram in section and is suggestive of how the architecture is to be assembled.
The early diagram is given to a colleague who then develops basic hard line drawings. Hill, whose computer skills are limited, sits with the employee and they explore rough massing drawings which “do not normally show opening and materiality at this stage, they are like plasticine models, all one colour and just a massing.”
He acknowledge that the contemporary architecture of Perth, in a particular modern housing of the 1960s, did influence his early approach to design, but then he recognized that “I lost that focus when I went to Bali. Anything that I had previously thought about went out the window as a result of total immersion in a whole new culture and an architecture that was derived from that culture. For a while I was flirting with the vernacular, much more than my training had encouraged me to do.”

THE PROJECTS
The Ogilvie House,
Sunshine Beach, Queensland Australia (1999-2002)

Figure 3: The Ogilvie House seen from the beach
Figure 3: The Ogilvie House seen from the beach

Figure 4 and 5: Magnificient setting can be seen from the house
Figure 4 and 5: Magnificient setting can be seen from the house

The side for the Ogilvie House commands spectacular views of Sunshine Beach, the Pacific Ocean and the Noosa National Park. This house is seen as a balance design of horizontal and vertical of a strong asymmetrical plan. The plan is a direct response to its setting, capturing the ocean view from within the spatially fluid interior while presenting a less permeable façade towards neighboring properties and strong south –easterly wind.
The house is built solidly down on the hill slope nearby the beach with complementary of natural setting to create contrast. It resembles the Geoffrey Bawa’s approach in blend in the splendor of a place into design but still with certain restraint. As for Kerry Hill, he designed this house courtyards, water element as devices to make the house seems as belong to the place. However, in term of strong materiality that he has, he tried to break the usage of local palette of corrugated iron and the roof by inserting more ecological material such as timber and bold it with the use of steel.

Figure 6: Lower Level Plan
Figure 6: Lower Level Plan

Figure 7: Upper Level Plan
Figure 7: Upper Level Plan
The simple clear logic of the plan shows the arrangement is designed as a direct formal and revealing, from functional and climatic aspects which then lead to aesthetic which derived from the planning, content and context. The house which is for recreational and daily living of the client also serves as business office.
The space control in term of privacy from inside to outside and vice versa is quite clear. The house is embraced by its sloping corner site which is walled on the landward sides and pierced for entrances at the upper and lower levels. The two edges the house is connected by landscape courtyards to give a sense of harmony to these spaces. There is an entrance court which serves as the ground gallery level of the house and can be accessed by using external stairs to another court for the upper floor offices. The entrance where is located at the lower court is designed for users to enter through a large pivoting steel -edged timber door which then reveals a further space to open sky with the large black slate-lined central reflecting pool of the gallery gives a sensuous feeling of tranquility.
From the entrance, it orders the users to go through the gallery before entering other spaces of guest room, gymnasium and exercise deck connected to a verandah on the same level or going up to another level. Going up to the upper level of the house, the movement is again directed by water element which is by lap pool and reflecting pools. The other spaces which are bedrooms, offices, library and kitchen are arranged surrounding the large central volume of the main living area. The living area is divided by the central double-sided fireplace, but focused on the swimming pool and the ocean to the east. All the spaces and opening were carefully allocated and designed to take the advantages of the coastal beauty and the subtropical climate of the site. The main bedroom and the main office located at the both end swimming pool to the north and south, functioned to shield the interior from prevailing winds. All rooms on the upper floor are on the same levels except there is a space with lower height between the exterior and the central volume to allow cross ventilation occurs.

The most intensive design of this house is the upper level because of the space planning and its overall volume. The designed is blended together with concealed sliding glass partitions where it gives rise to engage ambiguities. Hill seem plays around with materials and opening that brings more light into the house to create a stimulating spirit by inserting perimeter sliding screens and internal blinds. The floor is disciplined by a series of parallel rectangular bands that step down from west to east, providing a clear diagram for the spatial order. From the upper where he combined these three material and elements -marble, water and grass: then moves to another level where he used marble and water, followed by timbers and then black butt flooring. Change to another level where the usage of the tallow wood deck followed by water and finally culminating in the framed outlook over the ocean below that seemingly extends the view to infinity.
Its pedigree lies more with Hill’s recent shedding of iconic vernacular moments and his emphasis on the abstract, fundamental components of controlled spatial sequence, the casting of deep shade through emphatic horizontal roofs and timber screens at the very edges of his forms, and the continuous deployment of the courtyard as a self-shading mechanism. It is this latter space – the courtyard – for which Hill deserves particular celebration. Hill uses the courtyard for psychological containment, for borrowing shade from walls rather than obvious roofs, for spatial extension to frame views or vertical connection with the sky, for retreat from the relative chaos of the city without, for the courtyard’s ability to cross-ventilate between spaces, and for the opportunity to use water or plants to provide visual relief and contemplation. This deployment of the courtyard as a key element of tropical design offers an important lesson for Australian architects in its potential application to the Australian context across a range of climatic and urban contexts. If there is a measure of orthodoxy present in the work of Kerry Hill, it is in the conscious realization of local capabilities in terms of construction practice, climate and material longevity, and the specific circumstances of urban and landscape location.

The Datai,
Langkawi, Malaysia

Figure 9: The Datai seen from aerial view
Figure 9: The Datai seen from aerial view

The design of The Datai seeks to produce an architecture that us is site specific, that responds to the intense tropical climate and which makes extensive use of locally available skills and materials. The building expression deliberately avoids pastiche of traditional Malay architecture. His desire to make cultural connections through reference to indigenous building tradition is achieved through suggestion and association rather than replication with a view to create a marketable product which at the same time connect historic and cultural continuity of its location. It is about place making, both within the building itself and within its broader regional context.
Comprising 750 hectares of untouched tropical rainforest, the site has several important natural features: the sea and coral reef, the beach, and the rainforest itself, and a well-developed and sensitive ecosystem of swamp, streams and wildlife. A further distinctive element in the terrain is a ridge, which drops sharply to the waterfront. The architect was committed to safeguarding these natural features. Early in the design process, he located the hotel away from the beach to minimized its impact on the water-front, placing he complex instead on the ridge to provide spectacular views and leave more of the forest undisturbed. The hotel is thus I the heart of the forest yet with easy access to the waterfront. Another significant design was to fragment the hotel into free-standing buildings, with pavilions and isolated villas, which helped to reduce the mass complex and its impact on the site, and allowed flexibility in siting the building to minimize the felling of trees.
Figure 10: Plan of The Datai
Figure 10: Plan of The Datai

The hotel contains eighty-four rooms and forty villas. The rooms are broken up into four blocks of accommodation, arranged around a swimming pool and linked by open walkways. The free-standing villas are located on the lower slopes of the sit, between the ridge and the beach. The public areas of the complex- such as restaurants, a spa and a beach house – are distributed around the site in pavilions, a form drawn from the local building vernacular, which features a flexible demarcation of interior and exterior spaces, allowing air circulation and adaptability to suit the time of day or season. The various elements of the complex also follow local building traditions in being built either on stilts or heavy stone bases to protect them from ground damp, and the use of generous overhang to keep off rain. The resort makes extensive use of local building materials, notably timber due to the great natural resources of the forest, where an array of good building woods is readily available.
The task of building in a tropical forest is difficult responsibility. When trees are cleared to make ways for a building, there is a ‘festering wound’ effect whereby species on the perimeter that are not resistant to ultraviolet rays begin to burned out. This can be mitigated through the planting of pioneering species- trees that grow very fast, blocking the ultraviolet rays to the adjoin trees and allowing existing species to survive. The architect designed and modulated the buildings in the resort in consideration of this process.

Figure 11: The villas and hotels are built without disrupt he natural ecosystem
Figure 11: The villas and hotels are built without disrupt he natural ecosystem
Other measures taken to ensure the minimum of disruption to the surroundings include a recycling plant, localized soak pits and septic tanks that allow filtered seepage of water back into the forest. The resort has its own bore wells to supply water, and some rain is harvested. Water has been intelligently channel through the site and is collected in natural creeks and runaways. These features were safeguarded and when building over a creek was unavoidable, the structure was designed as bridge to allow the creek to pass below it. The natural topography and storm-water drainage system of the site has been left undisturbed, allowing the original catchment and flow patterns to be maintained.
Figure 2 Tree trunks fell during site clearance are used for columns, trusses and beams and as well as for the interior
Figure 2 Tree trunks fell during site clearance are used for columns, trusses and beams and as well as for the interior

The technology used for construction is an elegant synthesis of traditional building methods and contemporary approaches. For example, the unplanned tree trunks used for columns, trusses and beams are assembled with more care than they would be in a traditional building. Alignments, finishing, joinery, the material used and the way they are combined all coalesce to create a sophisticated structural vocabulary. The level of finish achieved is unusual in Malaysia and has set a precedent for the region’s construction quality.
Maintenance and ageing are important considerations in a finely wrought building, but the complex was designed to weather naturally. A pleasing patina of age is already evident on exposed wooden members and railings, which are not painted or polished but allowed to age gracefully- a natural characteristic of local hardwoods. Similarly, the stone used for the base of the buildings allows creepers to grow naturally over it and is hardy in terms of weathering. By employing a traditional vocabulary that evolves over the years in response to the climate, the complex is ideally suited to its environment. The large overhangs protect the spaces very efficient from both sun and rain, while the verandahs wrapping around the various units act as climatic buffers. Like the verandahs, the open pavilions and walkways admit cooling breezes and generous shafts of light, as well as blurring the boundaries between inside and out, enhancing a sense of interaction with nature.
As for the interior, local woods have been extensively used in the interior and as these woods also form the predominant building material, the interiors pick up the textures of the hotel structures and the forest beyond, creating a seamless integration between the interior and the architecture.
CONCLUSION
One might say that Kerry Hill is an exponent of tropical modernism, where architectural principles that informed the most important aspects of 20th century architecture have been combined with an understanding of the importance of regional context in every sense. As tropical is part this regionalism, most of Hill’s design is seamlessly with the climatic conditions. He provides lessons for architect across the world that appraised Modernism, but knows that its future depends on enrichment through further thought about local and regional identity in a world of replicas.

REFERENCES
Geoffrey London, Paul Finch, Erwin Viray, Oscar Riera Ojeda (2013) Kerry Hill: Crafting Modernism. UK: Thames & Hudson.
Joo Hwa Bay, Boon Lay Ong (2006) Tropical Sustainable architecture. London, UK: Routledge
Jennifer Taylor (May 2004).The Ogilvie House. Architecture Asia Magazine Issue May/April 2004, page 54-61.
Kerry Hill (1998) The Datai Architecture report, The Aga Khan Award for Architecture .

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[ 1 ]. Kerry Hill quotation from book Kerry Hill : Crafting Modernism.
[ 2 ]. The cited quotes and recollections by Kerry Hill were recorded in a series of interviews conducted with the author at Armitage Hill, Sri Lanka in July 2011.