YWA Studio contrasts the fortress-like façade of this semi-detached house in Telok Blangah with open interiors
So successful was YWA Studio in applying a monochromatic palette to parts of this semi-detached house in Telok Blangah that the photographer had to come back to do a reshoot. The reason? “All I saw was a big black mess,” laughs Tan Yue Wei, the Principal Architect and Founder of the design firm. Done in response to the clients’ brief of keeping things clean and minimalist, the three-and-a-half-storey home also reflects their love for the Japanese street style and grunge aesthetic. The result is entire rooms and swathes of feature walls that are covered in dark grey or black laminates. Mirroring this is the austere front façade design, composed of a solid graphite-coloured wall and a slim, inverted-L-shaped cutout on the side. Conceived at the clients’ insistence, it is overt in its message about the high value they place on privacy. No surprise then that Tan named the project Maison Forteresse. “Apart from the balcony on top, everything else is just pretty closed up at the front,” he says. Light and bright Enter the house though and any lair-like impressions…
HYLA Architects stacks two double-volume spaces in this Bukit Timah bungalow
“Is there a cave in the house?” Stand in front of this bungalow by HYLA Architects in Bukit Timah and this is a thought that might surface. Burmese teak-clad walls, the slender edges of a concrete shell and greenery are the main elements that pop on the front façade. These seem to wrap around what feels like a tall, empty…
Metre Architects transforms this semi-detached house in Sin Ming with a nature-inspired material palette
When Metre Architect’s Woon Chung Yen first entered this semi-detached house in Sin Ming, he was floored. Yawning open from left to right was a 15.3m-long interior, leading him to think, “Oh my goodness, what am I going to do with this whole volume of space? How will I animate it?” Although in charge only of designing the interiors, Woon…
K2LD Architects designs a GCB in Bukit Timah for a multi-generational family, arranged in a triangular configuration
We have a fondness for featuring multi-generation abodes, enticed by the warm, familial ties they represent and, from the design perspective, the high level of creativity that architects demonstrate for such homes. This Good Class Bungalow (GCB) in Bukit Timah by K2LD Architects embodies all this and more. Christened “The Triptych”, it is obviously made up of three distinct wings…
Artistroom sensitively renovates an apartment in Pandan Valley
Pandan Valley ranks among one of the first and most iconic condominium developments in Singapore. Designed by pioneer generation architect Tan Cheng Siong and completed in 1979, it is part of the country’s precious stock of modernist buildings that seems to be fast disappearing, despite calls to conserve them. It is therefore heartening to learn about homeowners who not only…
Christian Liaigre drives the design of this semi-detached house in Bukit Timah by Joey Khu Interior Design
When it comes to creating a desirable environment, one of the biggest challenges is having a vision strong enough to pull together disparate elements to achieve a cohesive result. For this project by Joey Khu Interior Design, this obstacle was overcome in a beautifully simple fashion, because of the clients’ love for the work of one man: Christian Liaigre. “The…
Arche Design Co. introduces the Scandinavian farmhouse aesthetic to a HDB flat in northeast Singapore
The request for a neutral palette is a common one in residential design. For this five-room HDB apartment in northeast Singapore by Arche Design Co., it was especially pertinent since one of its owners is an influencer. This means her home has to be a stage for her to video and photograph the products she endorses, while also doubling as…
S+Arch Design employs a curlicued façade for this Sembawang Hills terrace house
Pass this terrace house in Sembawang Hills too quickly and you might just miss its most interesting design element: a curlicued façade that gives it a graceful, monolithic form and an architecture that evokes calmness and tranquillity. Sitting on a plot of approximately 2,000sqft, it is designed by S+Arch Design, which demolished the original property on the site and built…
A continuous balcony envelopes the second floor of a GCB in Holland by RT+Q Architects
Given the astronomical prices of Good Class Bungalows (GCB) in Singapore, it is typically the practice for their owners to live in them. Breaking from the norm was this client of RT+Q Architects, whose request was to design a house that could be rented out. In doing so, the residence had to aim for what it called “a universal appeal”…
Studio iF redesigns four duplexes in a condo on Orchard Boulevard to create villas in the sky
As design challenges go, Gwen Tan of Studio iF knew she was being presented with an unusual one when a property developer approached her to relaunch part of their condominium project on Orchard Boulevard with a new design angle. The reason for the change? The marketability of the four duplexes on the highest two floors, due to the required blockage…
The Monocot Studio reintroduces the courtyard into a heritage apartment in Tiong Bahru
Tiong Bahru has long been prized as much for its heritage-listed Art Deco vibe and low-slung silhouette, as for the interior proportions of its renovated apartments with their spacious rooms and high ceilings. Even so, entering this sleek ground floor apartment on Eng Hoon Street, designed by The Monocot Studio, is apt to provoke a startled intake of breath. The…
Wallflower Architects wraps a GCB in Bukit Timah with an Accoya wood screen and lush landscaping
Almost entirely wrapped in landscaping, the latest residential project by Wallflower Architects is aptly named Touching Eden House. Creepers dangle down the Accoya wood screen and tropical trees are planted so abundantly that the Good Class Bungalow (GCB) seems to stand in their snug embrace. Peel back its layers though and an amazing story emerges – one of strict setback…
Stacey Leong Interiors makes over a bungalow in MacRitchie with a calm, minimalist aesthetic
The green movement has made its mark on the architecture industry through sustainable design, energy-efficient buildings, renewable materials and the adaptive reuse of existing structures. Indeed, preserving a house is one of the most eco-conscious decisions any new homeowner can make. Another excellent reason for doing so: timeless, classic design. This was the case for this bungalow in MacRitchie, which…
Guz Architects crowns a bungalow in the Farrer Road neighbourhood with a well-landscaped pavilion
For better or worse, we live in a time when increasing urban density, diminished resources and climate change are challenging architects, including those practising in Southeast Asia. It leads them not just to rethink their approach to green design, but also to convince reluctant clients to join the cause – if, for no other reason, than that incorporating climate-appropriate features…
A bungalow designed by Local Architecture Research + Design in the Dunearn estate is topped with a “sun hat”
Houses with starkly outlined pitched roofs in Singapore are common enough. What is less heard of is them being likened to “a sun hat worn by farmers”. This is exactly how Local Architecture Research + Design described a bungalow it designed in the Dunearn estate. Less visible is the sizable kitchen, which takes up almost two-thirds of the first storey,…
MAKK Architects defines a semi-detached house in Ang Mo Kio with a series of interlocking barrel vaults
A quick glance at MAKK Architects’ latest completed project might yield the impression that the designer recently went on a whirlwind tour of cathedrals across Europe, or that the owners are deeply religious. Its Principal, Lee May Anne, immediately bursts into peals of laughter at the suggestions. “No and no!” she exclaims mirthfully. “But it is the first thing that…
Maps Design Studio reinvigorates this bungalow in Holland two decades after it first conceptualised it
Some 23 years ago, a two-storey, L-shaped bungalow was built atop one of the high points of the hilly Holland neighbourhood. Lived in by a family of four, it was conceptualised by Maps Design Studio and bore the aesthetic of a tropical resort that the practice is known for. Fast forward two decades and the same team was assembled and…
Bricks form the anchor feature of this semi-detached house by Genome Architects in Bukit Timah
Piers of bricks on the side façade, two sets of staircases and generous views of the sky. These are the major highlights of a semi-detached house in Bukit Timah that was recently completed by Genome Architects. Motley as they sound, each in fact goes towards mitigating the conundrum of a long and narrow site in a densely packed neighbourhood. Specifically,…
2nd Edition centres the 3 Orchard By-The-Park show suite around a social deck
For interior designers, show flats can be tricky creatures to balance. By their nature, they need to be everything for everyone. Stylish, but not too stylish. Exclusive, but also inclusive. Attention seeking, but without being too out there. With literally no room for variation to cater to individual tastes, the design must conjure up a one-size-fits-all aspirational space that suggests…
The Carpenter’s Workshop taps Japanese kirigami to design this terrace house in East Coast
With its tall, recessed window flanked by square cut-outs of various sizes, the pure white façade of this terrace house in Singapore’s East Coast is immediately eye-catching. Designed by interiors firm The Carpenter’s Workshop, it is inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of three-dimensional origami that also involves cutting. The three-and-a-half storey house, sited on a compact plot of 1,733sqft,…