Singapore house

The site at the edge of a forest provides the verdant setting for the house. The brief for the house is to achieve the ultimate outdoor living with connections to the gardens from all rooms. The U-shape plan is built round a courtyard flanked by a lap pool on one side. Caption Caption The green landscape permeates all around and through the house. One of the gardens at the side which is at a higher level cascades down through the living room and courtyard, and out onto the garden beyond. This particular garden also ensures that the second-storey rooms enjoy vantage views of the greenery. Stretching the entire length of the site, the pool is similarly enveloped in a green strip planted with an assortment of trees and shrubs. The s... More

Formerly concealed at the bottom of the ramp, below the road level, the original house had a little presence or identity. Caption The new house was raised to the street level, giving it a formal guest entrance at the front and a family entrance at the bottom of the driveway, beside the garage. The entry lobby overlooks the high volume semi-outdoor dining patio space which in turn, opens out seamlessly onto the swimming pool. Caption To accentuate the tropical quality of this space, mechanically controlled glass louvres are used to let in daylight while sheltering from the rain. Ventilation is improved by a high-volume low-speed (HVLS) fan which delivers an extra breezy feel. Caption The rear and one side boundary abut siza... More

The site is elevated one floor above the road level which allows an access directly from the road level into a full basement comprising a large car park, entrance foyer, wine cellar and utility rooms. The form of the house takes on a series of overlapping boxes which emphasize the form of the slopping site. Whilst the expression is unconventional, the concept of tropical living prevails with light and ventilation coming in through courtyards and sheltered openings. Rooms are arranged around the courtyards which vertically connect the four levels of the house. To enhance the experience of arrival, the entry to the main level takes the visitor through water features in a courtyard flanked by granite cladded walls and steel posts. Th... More

The existing Art Deco house is gazetted for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The original main entrance faces away from the main gate of the newly sub-divided plot of land. The challenge was too layout the new additions to the conserved house, in such a way that a new formal entry is created between the existing house and the new block. Caption Caption This was achieved by inserting the new Living Room between the conserved hose and a large existing tree, at once creating the intermediate elements with a character of their own: the main entrance porch adjacent to a pond, and the new timber deck onto which the living room space flow out to. Caption Caption On the opposite side of the conserved house, t... More

The site for this house posed several challenges to overcome. Firstly, it is located right at the junction of two busy 4-lane roads. And in addition to that, the overhead MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) viaduct for the East-West cross-island train is located just beyond one of these roads. There is constant noise coming from cars and the passing train. The front of the site, where the main gate is located, faces almost West. To keep out heat and glare from the low angle western sun, the 2 most visible facades cannot have too many see-through openings. Thus, in trying to shield the interior spaces from the traffic noise and the Western sun, the semi-detached house is “flipped” inwards by carving out large voids between the house and... More

Nestled between a park and a hill, this house for a Catholic family is a vessel that channels views in from the front and rear, and where they meet in the middle, bridges them across.Flanked on 3 sides by other houses, it finds itself in between a small park in front and a hill further behind. The house uses this position to set up a distant dialogue between the 2 green spaces. In front, a U-shaped balcony cantilevers out above street level to channel the park into the interior where raintree canopies frame an intimate study. At the back, an open roof terrace cuts back the house massing above the rear neighbors to take in views of the forest hill. Between this 2 ends, internal rooms are pulled back to create a non-linear spatial passag... More

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT We were engaged to design a family home for the Tangs, a family of 4. They have 2 children in their teens, and their needs were simply to provide for a comfortable and modern abode that would allow for their family to spend memorable times and stay closely knitted. It was envisioned the home would be sustainable as well, hopefully for the generations to come. CLIENT'S BRIEF Our Client's requirements were specific in their response to certain spaces. The living area was to be comfortably spacious and the dining and kitchen were important social areas both for entertaining friends as well as spending quality time with family. In terms of comfort, the bedrooms and bathrooms had to be designed with user in mind. W... More