Project Name: Set N Rise Bali Restaurant

Location: Mengwi, Indonesia

Design Team: Studio Kota Architecture

Total Floor Area: 309 m²

Completion: 2025

Photography: Indra Wiras

Feature:

Project - Indonesian architecture studio Studio Kota Architecture completed the Set N Rise restaurant project in Pererenan, Bali, creating a semi-open-air Asian grill restaurant that ingeniously weaves the unique terraced landscapes of Bali into the very core of its architectural concept. The project is positioned within a calm and understated neighborhood just minutes from the bustling Canggu area, drawing inspiration from terasering—the traditional Balinese rice terrace system.

The project's most compelling design feature lies in its sophisticated response to a challenging narrow, sloping site—the architects masterfully handled the terrain conditions with a dramatic 5-meter elevation drop from front to back. The building is carefully shaped to follow the natural contours of the land, rather than imposing a singular gesture, the architecture steps down gradually with the terrain, creating a spatial sequence that mirrors the layered character of the surrounding rice fields.

The building's triangular footprint opens toward the east and south, optimizing exposure to natural daylight and maximizing views of the terraced landscape. This orientation ensures that nearly every part of the building maintains a strong visual connection to the outdoors, reinforcing a seamless relationship between interior space and nature. Inside the restaurant, the dining areas unfold across four staggered platforms, each aligned with the site's natural topography. A central ramp acts as the main circulation spine, allowing guests to move fluidly through the space while maintaining accessibility across all levels.

Most striking is the building's material expression strategy, which demonstrates a commitment to locality, sustainability, and sensory experience. Pigmented cement defines the floors of each platform, while rough-textured concrete and locally sourced timber create a tactile dialogue between mass and warmth. The facade is wrapped in horizontal timber fins, referencing the contour lines of rice terraces as seen from above. These slats function as passive shading and rain protection while allowing daylight and breeze to filter through, enhancing the building's environmental performance in Bali's tropical climate.

Design Team - Studio Kota Architecture stands as a distinguished Jakarta-based architectural practice that has established an exceptional reputation in innovative Indonesian design. Under the creative direction of design principal Erick Kristanto, the firm has developed a reputation for creating innovative solutions across cultural, residential, commercial, and urban design typologies.

Kristanto brings exceptional international experience to the practice, having earned his Master of Architecture degree from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and previously serving as project leader at Rem Koolhaas's OMA Hong Kong and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) New York. This global perspective, combined with deep local understanding, positions Studio Kota uniquely within Indonesia's architectural landscape.

The firm's design philosophy emphasizes that constructing a concept is as important as executing a building, not rushing to architectural solutions but believing that architecture should be a result of thorough understanding of the context. Through dialogue with clients, they formulate the main ingredients for the project then offer their expertise to transform ideas into reality. Studio Kota believes that fresh ideas come from collaboration with clients and other disciplines, they love to challenge themselves and push the design boundary further, with innovation being the key to keeping their business running.

Through this thoughtful synthesis of local material usage, understanding of traditional spatial logic, and contemporary architectural language, Studio Kota has established itself as a significant contributor to Indonesia's contemporary architectural discourse, creating architectural works that are both rooted in place and embrace global design vision.