Home Tour: Architect-designer couple’s $100,000 renovation for their 4-room BTO in Punggol
Both originally from Johor, Malaysia, the couple studied in Singapore, where they eventually settled and started their careers in the industry.
By Shannon Osztonits -
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What happens when two architectural designers, who happen to be born on the same day, but one year apart, get married? They build their own dream home, of course. Forgoing the need for using an interior design studio to help visualise their perfect abode, homeowners Tyler and Zhengyu approached their home with the same principles that they apply to their professional work:
“Prioritising spatial clarity, material honesty, and long-term adaptability. In response to the shrinking footprint of modern homes in Singapore, we focused on crafting a highly functional yet emotionally grounding space for our growing family.”
Both Virgos, the Earth sign’s need for tranquility, practicality, organisation, and favoring of natural elements, is evident throughout the layout and design of the 4-room (3-bedroom) property.
Walking through the space, nothing feels overly cluttered nor disorganised, and the home is filled with clean lines and interesting features that instantly transport you to a moment with Mother Nature — but in a very modern and minimalist sort of way.
Punggol’s natural surroundings and waterways suit this couple’s active lifestyle; a husband and wife who enjoy cycling, exercising, and being in nature. It’s one of the biggest reasons these homeowners fell in love with the North-East region of Singapore. With a longer commute into the CBD, this makes it even more satisfying returning home, arriving to a peaceful retreat away from the city mayhem. And waking up to waterfront views every day doesn’t hurt either.
Who Lives Here: A 31 and a 30-year-old Architectural Designer Couple
Home: A 4-room BTO
Size: 1,001 sq ft
Interior designer: Homeowners self-designed
Couple From Johor
Both originally from Johor, Malaysia, the couple studied in Singapore, where they eventually settled and started their careers in the industry. Creating their perfect home (for the next six years of living, at least), this husband and wife reside here with their infant and their two parents.
The end product was certainly not the first version. As one can imagine, in their line of work, the couple took a few years to visualise and render their ideal home.
Throughout, subtle design interventions were selected, such as timber strip sliding doors, concealed flush doors, a compact mini bar, and creating a vertical language across the space — all reflective of their personal aesthetic and experiences as designers. Sticking to similar-style materials and colour palette was very intentional.
Foyer Design
Family and friends often pop over for a visit or a glass of wine. Instead of your typical foyer entrance, which could perhaps lead to a dining room to chill and convene, homeowners Tyler and Zhengyu envisioned something different.
To the right-hand, a limewash-texture laminate covers a concealed door leading to the household shelter. It’s somewhat of a feature. A lighter coloured, natural-looking variant for the home tiles continues their preferred palette, reflective of a 21st-century modernist. These same tiles are used throughout the whole home, including the kitchen and bedrooms.
Home Bar Design
Looking left, a structural wall blocks the dining area on the opposite side. Where this wall ends, a compact home bar-meets-social space is inserted — inspired by hospitality spaces. It catches your eye as soon as you enter the front door. The counter is made from Dekton (Ultra-Compact Surface Engineered Stone), purchased from Cosentino.
Drinks around the bar with friends happen often. Luckily, the stone counter is super durable, plus it’s stain and bacteria-resistant (every woman’s dream, no?). The couple explains that they specifically wanted this bar area for social gatherings, when their buddies prefer to stand around and chit-chat, instead of sitting around a table. Totally less formal!
“At the end of the day, as a young couple who just recently bought a house in the Singapore context, we feel that there are many people who share the same kind of lifestyle and needs,” explains the homeowner. “We wanted to share more things in our home that will actually benefit like-minded people, sharing some kind of design ideas that others can engage with their IDs.”
Opposite the home bar area is the pantry. The entirety of this room (which leads to the dining area) was enlarged during the renovation process.
“We even did a mini pantry just so that when friends are over, we can actually prepare some drinks over there without having to go into the kitchen,” says homeowner Tyler.
The pantry area (equipped with glassware, a fridge, coffee station and a sink) is parallel to the bar, hidden behind custom carpentry light oak laminate doors. Once more, this same material is used throughout the home in other carpentered areas, like the bedroom wardrobes. It really adds a sense of flow, symmetry, and minimalism.
Dining Area Design
Leading on from the pantry area, with a continual row of the oak laminate sliding doors, is the dining room. It’s more or less an “open plan” type setup. They demolished part of the original kitchen wall (now completely reconfigured) for the new setting.
As soon as your eye hits the dining room, you notice a large-format, 1.6 x 3.2 meters vertical slab feature wall. Bought from Imola Ceramica, it’s San Pedro in a polished finish. Mimicking marble, the slab is durable and more affordable.
An extendable wooden dining table is the perfect size for this small, growing family, but can be made bigger when required. The overall result? A room that feels larger and uncluttered.
Kitchen Design
“We don’t really need a kitchen to do heavy cooking and things like that,” tells the homeowners.”We actually compact the kitchen into the yard. So one side is for when you do the washing of the dishes, and the other side is for cooking.”
The same stone as the dining-bar island is used for kitchen counters, as well as the oak laminates. Two pull-out column drawers and an integrated kitchen system store snacks, cleaning detergents, and kitchen tools. A gas hob is used for cooking.
Sliding doors discreetly screen the service areas, including the kitchen and the yard, where the washing machine and sink are. Above everything, nothing beats the sea views from the kitchen window.
Living Room Design
A darker laminate, custom-built TV console introduces elements of yin and yang into the living room space. It’s a wonderful contrast to the home’s more light-focused details and finishes. Layers within the console add a sense of depth and geometry.
Natural light streaks through. Recessed ceiling lights were chosen to give off the illusion of a higher ceiling. “We didn’t want too much on the ceiling, so that’s why we went for simple,” says Tyler.
From the living room, a corridor leads to the bedrooms. The guest room is parallel to the living area.
“Concealed flush doors provide clean transitions into the guest and parents’ room and the nursery and study that connects to the master bedroom,” explains the homeowners.
Master Bedroom Design
The master bedroom with an en suite is on the complete opposite end of the living room. With a newborn in the house, these parents cleverly installed another connecting door between their room and the nursery.
“Most of the time, the baby is sleeping in the nursery. We always leave this door open, so that at night, if he wakes up, we don’t really have to go out of the room to attend to him,” says Zhengyu. “In the long run, as he grows, he might want to have his own private space, so we can then lock out the rooms. For now, it’s good that we created this; it fits our current lifestyle.”
Take note, any potential moms and dads.
Mixed-textural heaven greets you inside this private space, including another vertical slab feature. Although it’s the same tile, the couple specifically chose ones with a different pattern, so as not to exactly replicate the one in the dining room. Because natural marble stone is never identical.
The master bedroom happens to be homeowners Zhengyu and Tyler’s favourite space in the home.
“Every day when we wake up in the morning, we are always welcomed by the sun, with the window facing the sea,” tells Tyler. “It drives me to have a good start to the day. I think it’s very important to have that kind of element in the house.”
From their queen-sized bed, these two can enjoy home movie time, as the window blinds (right in front of the bed) double as a projector.
The primary en suite consists of a shower, toilet and a mirror vanity cabinet stretching across the entire back wall. Views on views are one of the biggest advantages of this property, including one in the master bathroom!
Common Bathroom Design
The same materials are used in the common guest bathroom as in the master en suite, as well as geometric design, especially the homeowners’ love for vertical placement.
The basin is mounted to the wall, and there is an automated washlet WC.
“Each adds comfort and delight to daily rituals,” says Tyler. It’s the small touches such as these that showcase the owners’ passion and understanding of their craft.
They introduced dark slats as a feature wall, which they purchased from the Spanish brand, Living Ceramics. This is also incorporated into the bottom half of the bathroom sink.
“This fluted pattern continues the vertical language we have across the house,” tells this architect-designer.
The bathroom tiles happen to be the house’s original, which, just out of luck, perfectly match the rest of the renovated home.
Renovation Timeline
As their first renovation, the couple did experience some delays due to COVID-19. Only afterward did they seriously start designing the space, which began circa 2021. It took over one year of planning, and many (excited) versions of redesigning and drawing. Construction took three months. This was inclusive of hacking works and carpentry.
As architect designers, they did their homework, purchasing all the furniture, building materials, and finishings prior, avoiding any hiccups throughout the process. Luckily, this husband and wife duo have always been on the same wavelength when it comes to business.
Any advice for potential homeowners?
“If they really have a vision to design a house they want to stay in for a period of time, they need to be more serious rather than just engaging an interior designer to do it for them. At the end of the day, the interior designer isn’t going to be the one staying there,” advises Tyler. “As much as you’re paying a fee to get someone else to do the job, give clear directions so that people can deliver a good job.”