Indonesia Expat
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Made Sulendra: Making Dreams Come True

Made Sulendra
Made Sulendra: Making Dreams Come True

Our Seven Stones Indonesia podcasts and interviews cover a broad range of topics including, doing business in Indonesia, entrepreneurship, real estate and property, the latest legal advice, opinions, and much more because we believe in driving positive change by delivering intelligent and relevant value-driven services that help our clients become more effective, efficient, and successful.

The latest interview was with Made Sulendra, an inspirational Balinese architect, who passionately believes in creating eco-friendly projects that combine form and function with Balinese tradition and culture. Here’s what he had to say when we caught up with him on the site of a proposed Eco-Village in Kemetug, Gunung Salak, in Tabanan.

Tell us about Ade Bali Interior Design and Architecture

We are a team of passionate and talented architects, interior designers, and landscape consultants who have a great deal of experience in our fields. With dynamic and up-to-date designs, we’re able to maintain high-quality services to meet market demands.

What motivated you to become an architect?

I come from a family who spent a great deal of their time working in building and construction. It wasn’t just my father, but also the community he was involved with. It seemed when I was growing up everyone was doing it!

I knew from a young age that before you could build anything, anything at all, someone must have come up with the idea and then designed it. This fascinated me because it was like making ideas and dreams come true.

For me, being an architect is all about creating that bridge between an idea and reality. There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a client saying, “this is exactly what I want!” or “this is my dream house!” I know I can do that, and that’s what drives me.

Made Sulendra
Balinese Architect – Made Sulendra
Who’s been your biggest inspiration?

My father is the most inspiring figure in my life journey, especially in my career. He is a local builder who always aims at constructing practical and functional buildings, which are also easy to maintain. I always bear in mind that whenever my team and I work on any designs, we always make sure that they can be built and maximised in terms of their functions as well as easy to maintain. This is a very simple value, but it could help many of my clients to set their objectives when deciding to build their own houses, villas or resorts.

What do you enjoy most about being an architect in Bali?

I enjoy meeting new people and clients. Everyone has different ideas and different tastes and that’s a challenge. But being able to interpret their ideas and needs and then create designs around them is a great feeling. It takes time, patience, and understanding, which can be challenging sometimes for sure, but I like that.

What are your latest projects and how are you integrating new or alternative ideas in the designs?

Right now, I’ve got three main projects. The first one is Kemetug Eco Village which is located in Kemetug, Gunung Salak in the hills of Tabanan. As per our standard procedures in taking jobs, the first thing we do before starting the design is to conduct a survey on the site to get more ideas about the site itself in terms of its history and its surroundings.

The village of Kemetug is a beautiful place with magnificent scenery along with historical heritage. With this kind of site, it’s very important to design something which is in harmony and in line with the history and the surroundings, so we decided the most appropriate type of construction to build was a prefab house in which the main building will be constructed from old recycled wood and other materials like stones will be sourced from the surrounding area itself. This prefab house will have a modern interior and by taking advantage of the beautiful location we can ensure all rooms are exposed to the views around them. In addition, we also decided to design 30 percent of the total site as a building area and leave the rest of the site as natural as possible.

The second project is H-LT 88, an eco-resort located in the commercial area of Tumbak Bayuh, Pererenan. We will use bamboo material, adapting natural shapes like the shape of a shell for the lobby and restaurant; a lotus shape for the gym and spa areas; and the shapes of leaves for the roof of the building.  All swimming pools on the rooftop will be made out of acrylic panels to enjoy the sky roof.

The third one is Sore Tropical Living 2, also located in Tumbak Bayuh, Pererenan. This is the second project that we handle from the same owner. It started from designing Sore Tropical Living 1, then the owner decided to hire us again for designing and building the Sore Tropical Living 2. As a commercial property, the second concept is more accommodating in terms of market demand compared to the first design.  

Bali was hit quite hard by the pandemic. How has this impacted your business?

We are very grateful that during the pandemic we received more projects, both for designing and building, which came from both repeat clients and new ones. It’s really encouraging to know clients are satisfied with the quality of our work and keep coming back or referring us to others.

Where do you see Bali in 10 years?

Bali is going to get more advanced, especially in the areas of alternative energy, water management and using recycled materials. We’ve had more clients asking us to incorporate solar power and smart ways to use rainwater into their homes. And even those who want us to use all recycled materials. We welcome this, as it’s important to think of ways to be environmentally sustainable in this business, especially in Bali, which is such a beautiful and natural place.

My prediction is that we will see more and more of these eco-friendly initiatives in the next 10 years.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities in location and style in Bali?

There are two promising locations in Bali in terms of business and style that I think are worth noting, and these are Uluwatu and Canggu. We’ve seen that during the pandemic there were more investments made directly into these two areas.

What advice do you have for people looking to buy land and build their own property in Bali?

I would suggest buyers make sure the land status is not under dispute and is actually legal for you to build on. That means no building in greenbelt areas! Period! Also, make sure you have everything clean and legal, especially with building permits (PBG/SLF) before any construction starts. It’s worth having professionals run due diligence before you invest.

What are the highlights of your career?

For me, my highlight is just the satisfaction of seeing my designs constructed into buildings. I am very grateful to be trusted by clients to build in such promising areas, such as Canggu, Sanur, and Ubud. These things encourage me to keep improving my knowledge and skills in architectural design and building constructions so we can maintain our high-quality services.

How can people get hold of you to learn more?

The best way is to email me at [email protected] after you have a look at our company’s Facebook page. We’re also on Instagram.

You can watch the podcast with Made on the Seven Stones Indonesia YouTube channel. If you’d like us to do podcasts and interviews with more of Indonesia’s movers and shakers, feel free to send us your suggestions at [email protected]

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