Along the Kona Coast of Hawaii, Hale Kiawe’s clean, rectilinear volumes cut through undulating grass beds, simultaneously contrasting and cohering with the surrounding landscape. San Francisco–based Walker Warner designed the 5,600-square-foot residence to adapt to its environment, hence the collaboration with landscape architects David Y. Tamura Associates who sculpted contours into the previously barren site. The balance between building and environment continues inside, where a sensitive, considerate touch creates a quiet, spiritual home for an evolving family.
While rhythm and flow run through the bulk of Walker Warner’s portfolio, it’s especially apparent at Hale Kiawe whose clients, in alignment with their Indian heritage, tasked the architects with working with Vastu Shastra, a doctrine on the traditional Hindu system of architecture, emphasizing alignment between the built environment, nature, and the inhabitants’ wellbeing. These principles amounted to a series of lanais—each composed of wood siding and corrugated metal roofs that draw from agrarian buildings—connected by meandering boardwalks. It accommodates a place for the homeowners, space for their two adult children, another guest house, and a pool and detached garage.
The plan is oriented as dictated by Vastu principles. For instance, the entry faces east in alignment with the doctrine’s recommended cardinal directions. A curving pathway and small pond, hidden from the road, lead to this entry lanai. Surrounded by slatted oak grills that let in the surrounding nature, the lanai takes its cues from Studio Mumbai’s Copper House in India. It’s here in this open-aired pavilion where the Vastu ethos of living with nature, light, and air feels most on display.
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