For Giovanni Gunawan, design director at KantorGG, the toughest project brief came from within.
The house in question wasnt a client commission but his familys home in Surabaya, a property his grandfather purchased over 80 years ago that had witnessed four generations come of age. How do you update a place like that without erasing what makes it matter?
His answer was to let the house live in two time zones at once. The original Dutch colonial structure stays put. Century-old brick columns, period details, the works. A gentle 2019 refresh kept it presentable for hosting without stripping away its character. Then, out back, Gunawan built something completely different: a contemporary extension where his family actually lives day-to-day. Walking from front to back feels like crossing a timeline, each side commenting on the other.
The site didnt make things easy. Long, skinny, hemmed in on both sides. Gunawan leaned into linear design. Cantilevered roofs reaching out, volumes stacked at different heights, spaces that unfold rather than spread. What couldve felt squeezed instead feels choreographed.
The garden connecting both wings. Thats where Gunawan played as a kid. Now its planted with a mix of Indonesian natives and Australian tropics, a nod to his years studying abroad. Natural light pours through, greenery visible from nearly every room.
Inside the new wing, a double-height living room pairs dark oak with white marble. Grounded but elegant. Curved sofas, a custom coffee table, warm tones throughout. The open dining area centers around a long table where generations gather, while vintage cookware displayed nearby hints at his wifes passion for cooking. The kitchen island doubles as a breakfast bar and late-night conversation spot.
The bedrooms stick to lighter woods and pale stone, big windows blurring the line between inside and garden. Quiet spaces built for thinking, resting, breathing.
“Designing for your own family means balancing what was with what needs to be,” Gunawan reflects. “I wanted to keep the parts that hold my childhood, but also let them coexist with how we live now. Its about creating dialogue. Old speaking to new, each making the other more interesting.”
Photo courtesy of Kung Photograph
