Island Flex House Design Concept

We developed the Island Flex House design concept for Jumby Bay, a private Island off Antigua, where lots averaged about two and a half acres in size. The concept is based on the idea that each room is a building. This works well in an Island setting because it allows each room to be well ventilated with natural trade winds and provides a high degree of plan flexibility and privacy for houses that are basically enclosed outdoor spaces. It also allows villa compounds to be easily expanded with additional guest bedrooms without disruption to the existing house.




Flexibility of placing building components on site allow maximum advantage to be taken of view or wind conditions, which can be a governing design criteria in some Island environments.





Very different houses can be made from some simple common building components, as illustrated in this post. Simple easy construction is essential when building in some third world countries, and can help logistically when building on Islands where transportation costs and accessibility of building materials matter. The following posts show some of the building components used to create an Island Flex House design.

Island Flex House Design, Great Room Component

The Great Room building forms the core around which any number of bedroom cottages or other buildings can be added to create an Island villa compound. This plan is for a very open configuration between sitting and kitchen areas. The sitting area can be fully opened on three sides by sliding doors so that it is both an indoor and outdoor room. The kitchen area can be closed off from the sitting area to keep out marauding insects and birds. Care needs to be taken to make sure the outdoor dining area is on the leeward side of the building, or is sheltered by other buildings from the wind or it will be unusable much of the time.

Island Flex House Design, Great Room Component 2

This Great Room component has a horizontal orientation and includes a study or media room. The kitchen is full closed off from the living areas for those that will be using staff or do not like to see the kitchen mess. The building shape is simple and symmetrical so that the exposed roof framing looks logical and balanced when seen from inside. Nearly all our Island homes have exposed roof framing for greater room height and to avoid closed in voids where any number of insects and critters can take up residence.

Island Flex House, Master Bedroom Component

One of the problems we faced over the years designing houses for people in the Caribbean is that they always wanted the size and number of rooms they had in their stateside homes. But in the Islands you also want to live outside so large covered terraces would be added greatly increasing the building area which directly relates to construction cost. In this bedroom component area is minimized by doing only an indoor sleeping area and making the sitting area a covered outdoor terrace. Sliding doors allow the sitting area to be closed in depending on rain, wind and privacy needs.

Island Flex House Design, Master Bedroom Component 2

This is a larger Master Bedroom option that has a larger dressing and closet area, as well as soaking tub along with his and hers vanity and shower areas. The covered terrace opens into an intimate private courtyard that could have a fountain for cooling water sounds.

Island Flex House Design, Master Bedroom 3 Component

This is the largest free standing Master Bedroom component which provides owners with a private retreat from the main house that might be full of guests. The bathroom has a tub opening onto a private walled courtyard with two outdoor showers. The sleeping area is indoors as is a separate study. A large covered outdoor terrace can be enclosed or opened up with sliding doors.

Island Flex House Design, Single Bedroom Component

This is a bedroom cottage that can be clustered closely to other parts of the house, or if the site is large enough placed at a distance for privacy. The sleeping area is indoors as is the bathroom and dressing area. The sitting area is a covered terrace that can be closed off with sliding louvered doors. The terrace and bath open onto a private walled courtyard that allows the air to circulate freely, so that if the site has good wind exposure, air conditioning will not be necessary.