Location: Singapore
Area: 715 sqm
Year: 2016
Awards
2017 The Chicago Athenaenum Museum International Architecture Award
2017 Annual Architizer A+ Awards, Popular Choice Winner
2017 INDE Awards, Shortlist: The Living Space
2016 16th SIA Architectural Design Awards, Design of the Year
2016 Best of Year Winner for City House
Architects: Park + Associates Architects
Photography © Edward Hendricks, CI&A Photography
In a usual circumstance, the front of the house is the most important – not in our case. House 24 is sited on a triangular plot, a constraint that we took on as an opportunity to really engage with the siting and planning of the house – to achieve a meaningful footprint that actualises the client’s spatial, functional, and privacy requirement. Moreover, the site adjoins a lushly landscaped state land that we endeavoured to take advantage of at every available opportunity and every habitable space.
As such, we turned the house away from the main road and neighbouring houses, and instead have the living spaces open out to the mature greenery beyond. The result is a massing comprising of two blocks which, when combined, define a V-shaped patio on the first floor that becomes the focal point of common activities and entertainment, borrowing views from the surrounding greenery.
The courtyard screen fronting the street is an exercise in rethinking the conventional entry sequence of residential dwellings, and an exploration in creating a more layered and sequential experience. It is experienced almost as a ritual space – serene and tranquil – marking the transition between the public and private.
It was also an opportunity to explore what timber craftsmanship might mean in contemporary architecture, and we envisioned the screen to be a well-crafted element with modern aesthetic and detailing. It eventually manifested itself as a refined and rhythmic facade, drawing attention to its delicate scale even as a structure that is over 8m high.
A delightful pattern of light and shadow plays out over the course of each day whilst allowing sunlight to filter in and natural air to stream in, creating a relaxing ambience that reinforces the client’s desire to live in a home that reflected its tropical locality.
Park + Associates Architects
All images Courtesy of Park + Associates Architects | © Edward Hendricks, CI&A Photography
Park + Associates Architects
The firm’s strategy is one of subtraction and control to preserve the necessary simplicity of spaces. Each project is undertaken with a rigorous eye for detail, placement and materials, with an artistic sensitivity to the “intangibles” of light, space and form. Charting a journey for the user in an unique space; creating sophisticated spaces that inspire, invigorate, and refine the senses – that is what Park + Associates sets out to achieve.
In tandem with its explorations of spaces, the firm remains sensitive to environmental concerns, seeking to appropriate eco-friendly materials and strategies into each project.
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