Traditional Japanese House and Garden Design

The T-house aesthetic appeals to the “connoisseur of the simple”- those who appreciate the economy and elegance of its minimalist proportions as well as the sensual beauty of its handcrafted material. “The house is more like a beautiful wooden bowl or a piece of furniture than a building, “Says Gwilliam. One of the most complete and authentic Bali T-house designed and built in the United Stated is this charming yoga pavilion perched, birdlike, over a Japanese water garden at a private residence in Santa Barbara.

The owner, a documentary filmmaker, learned about Bali T-house from a friend and contacted Tony Gwilliam to create a garden sanctuary for her in a sheltered wooded area behind her residence. The natural landscape in that part of the property, shaded with fragrant cedars, lends itself to the “deep environment of peace” provided by the design.

T-house architecture features versatile kit-system construction with modular components that can be variously configured to suit a client’s needs. Depending on design preferences and program, the modules can be vertically stacked in to a two-story structure or expanded horizontally into a compound-style arrangement as in many traditional Balinese villages. This yoga pavilion features a one-module, single story plan. Its structural components were crafted in Bali, precut according to the prescribed footprint (specially engineered for California code requirements), and shipped in a twenty-foot container to the site. A local contractor and a crew of four workers assembled and erected the pavilion in less than two weeks.