House Tour: A Scandinavian-style three-bedroom condo in Upper Serangoon with wood tones and dark colours

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An architectural design language was applied in this home to address both aesthetic and practical considerations.

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For the interior design of his home, accountant Derek Liew made reference to some of his favourite hotels. “I am impressed with these hotel room interiors and I wanted my home to have a similar look and feel,” he says.

As Derek lives alone, he requires only one master bedroom and one guest room, so the third bedroom was opened up to become a dining room.

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With a proper formal dining room, there is no need to squeeze both the sofa and dining table into one space, and Derek gets to enjoy both the living and dining rooms in their entirety,” interior designer Alvin of AO Studio explains. The wall between the original bedroom and living room was removed, connecting and elongating the two spaces. “The living and dining areas are my favourite parts of the home. Opening up the two spaces is especially convenient when entertaining guests,” shares Derek.

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The new dining room also serves as a backdrop of sorts to the living room. Part of the existing bedroom wall facing the corridor leading to the bedrooms was retained to create a display feature.

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This is a home where good design meets excellent craftsmanship.

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To get around the apartment’s limited ceiling height, Alvin tried to incorporate as many vertical lines and elements as possible into the scheme, borrowing imagery from the upright architectural fins commonly seen on building exteriors. The design intention was to accentuate the vertical dimension, thereby creating an illusion of loftiness.

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A free-standing display shelf between the corridor and dining area.

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Alvin confesses to being “extremely particular about uniformity, scale and proportions”, which explains why he went to great lengths to mitigate the differences between various levels, heights and surfaces. The ceiling above the foyer and corridor clad in timber and the timber box-up ceiling feature all form a design language that demarcates the circulation flow within the home.

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The master bedroom’s headboard features recessed detailing to receive the Grafunkt bed frame.

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Derek’s bicycle does not fi t in the store room, so Alvin turned it into a wall feature in the guest room.