“The clients were clear that they didn’t want anything boring. They wanted something outstanding, something with street presence,” says architect Robin Tan of Wallflower Architecture and Design, about this 10,800 sq ft (1,003 sqm) home located in a quiet north-eastern neighbourhood in Singapore.
For Tan, architecture always starts with site planning and the sloping plot of land had its own particular set of characteristics that dictated certain design decisions.
House elevated 4m above ground level
Elevated 4 metres above ground, the plot allowed for site space to be increased by a full 5,000 sq ft (464 sqm), as the driveway and carpark could be neatly tucked underground.
But the density of the neighbourhood, with houses crammed in together, led to a sense of a lack of both space and privacy.
“There is a tall structure on one side, and an old house on the other side which would in time also be built up, so the idea was to be defensive, with ‘shields’, and to look inwards. And this formed the basis of how the house was designed, to handle the future,” explains Tan.
The result is a U-shaped structure, with the public spaces for dining, living and entertaining on the ground floor, pivoting around the central pool.