Home Tour: An Indonesian businesswoman’s luxury 2-storey penthouse holiday home in Cairnhill
An Indonesian businesswoman’s penthouse is a stylish holiday abode that feels like a home away from home.
By Lynn Tan -
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This duplex penthouse with a roof terrace at Cairnhill Circle is a holiday home to Indonesian businesswoman, Silvia Kurniady and her Korean husband, both in their 40s, and their two children - a teenage son and a four-year-old daughter. It was over a decade old when she purchased the unit and it was in its original condition with some minimal works done by the former owner.
Who Lives Here: A businesswoman and her family
Home: A duplex penthouse with roof terrace at Cairnhill Circle
Size: 3,993 sqf
Interior Designer: Eddy Kuswandi, design director of Enoch ID
The cascading pendant lamps draw the eye up the double volume space to the second storey.
Enoch ID
She enlisted the help of her friend, Eddy Kuswandi, design director of Enoch ID, who also worked on her previous 3-bedroom condominium, to design the penthouse.
“I derived the concept from the penthouse apartment’s modern architecture and Silvia’s personality to create a contemporary and chic interior that feels like a Manhattan apartment,” he shares.
Extending the second storey footprint over the void above the existing private lift lobby allows for the addition of a home office.
Private Lift Lobby
The double volume private lift lobby is now a single volume space with the addition of a home office directly above on the second storey. Contrary to making it feel less grand, this has a compression-expansion effect that heightens the experience of the double volume living room beyond the entrance foyer.
The muted off-white and beige colour palette with accents of bronze and matte and mirrored finishes give the penthouse apartment a stylish look.
Living Area Design
With the existing kitchen walls hacked, the living room, dining room and dry kitchen now form one expansive open concept space that feels bright, airy and light-filled. Interior designer Eddy introduced a new kitchen island that continues into a dining table.
The linear lines of the island reinforced by the mirrored wall that runs alongside it draw the eye towards the city view beyond.
Echoing this long and linear element is a mirrored wall that extends across the kitchen and dining spaces, reflecting the view of the city beyond the floor-to-ceiling fenestrations leading to the balcony. In the living room, a curved sofa from Dutch brand, Leolux, which the client acquired in Seoul, and a pair of Lido chairs from Minotti are set against a panoramic backdrop of the city skyline.
The stone clad walls of the private lift lobby open up to a neutral pastel interior with a touch of bronze and highlights of matte and polished surfaces.
The hidden powder room on the first storey is elegantly designed with mirrored finishes all around that give it a kaleidoscopic effect.
Daughter’s Bedroom Design
There are two bedrooms on the first storey - the daughter’s room and a guest room. These were reconfigured and the bedroom entrances reoriented to make better use of a dead corridor space outside the two bedrooms and the powder room.
The pink salmon colour and platform bed are perfectly suited for a young girl’s bedroom, balancing fun, function and aesthetics.
The daughter’s bedroom adopts a salmon pink theme established by the abstract wall covering behind the bed. Elevated above a platform, the bed can be moved to one side to create more room for play. There is built-in storage behind the bedhead, as well as wall-to-wall wardrobes for clothes and toy storage on the opposite side.
The guest bedroom is functional yet aesthetically pleasing.
Guest Bedroom Design
A pastel green and grey colour palette distinguishes the guest bedroom from the rest of the interior. Here, interior designer Eddy opted for two single beds for greater flexibility that allows the guest room to accommodate the couple’s parents or siblings when they stay over. One side of the L-shaped bay window is a settee overlooking the city, while the other is a combination of an open, full-height, backless shelving unit and a ledge for hand luggage.
The bay windows in the master bedroom have been meaningfully incorporated into the design without compromising on the views out.
Master Bedroom Design
On the second storey, the master bedroom exudes a calm and tranquil ambience with its neutral and light-coloured palette. The headboard wall features bleached oak panelling with silver, blown molecule glass that inject a sense of dynamism as they appear to glide across the wall.
One side of the bay window has a lounge chair for relaxing or reading. On the other side, Eddy erected a low cabinet with an open, full-height bronze steel-and-glass shelving unit that increase the storage capacity within the room without compromising on the view.
The master bathroom and walk-in wardrobe have been reconfigured to enhance the spatial flow and functionality.
Walk-In Wardrobe
The master bathroom and walk-in wardrobe underwent major reconfiguration. The previously convoluted layout segregated the walk-in wardrobe and master bathroom into two distinct zones.
The play of light and shadow on the marble shower wall in the master bathroom creates an interesting and ephemeral effect.
Interior designer Eddy opened up the spaces and pushed the shower compartment, WC compartment, His and Hers basins and walk-in wardrobe to the three walls along the periphery, freeing up the space in the centre for a freestanding vanity island.
The teenage son’s bedroom exudes a more masculine feel.
Son’s Bedroom Design
Also located on the second storey, the son’s bedroom has different shades of grey with brown tones to give a more masculine look. It used to open out to a roof terrace with an outdoor jacuzzi, which Eddy has converted into a study and wardrobe according to the teenager’s needs.
The tiered roof terrace design maximises the panoramic view.
Roof Terrace
At the top of the penthouse, the roof terrace offers a panoramic view of the Cairnhill area all the way to Marina bay. Interior designer Eddy raised the platform and built-in an L-shaped sofa bench to capitalise on this vista.
“The tiered design and the steps also add interest to an otherwise flat roof terrace,” he explains. “The planter box continues on into a dining table and a reflective pool. I also took into consideration the fact that this is a holiday home, so the design and the plants should be low maintenance,” he adds.
The renovations were completed in 2022 after eight months due to the pandemic.