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Most Transformed
- Firm: Lim Ai Tiong (LATO) Architects/Design
- Interior Designer: AR Lim Ai Tiong
- Address: 27 Foch Road #03-10 Singapore 209264
- Contact: 6295-1847 / 9380-0288
- Website: www.latodesign.com
- Type of home: 4-bedroom condominium
- Size of home: 2,500 sq ft
White walls juxtapose dancing timber planes across the house.
The Brief
The homeowners came to Registered Architect Lim Ai Tiong with an unusually open brief. “Other than the usual brief on budget and the area usages like all projects, they did not prescribe any restrictive brief,” he says. Before beginning the design, he asked if they were open to something unconventional. “They said yes. They appreciate art. I’ve got to thank them for having faith and guts for accepting the unconventional design.”
Inspired by the development’s landscape-driven master plan, Ai Tiong carried the concept indoors. Fluidity, sensuous textures, and curving movement became the basis for a space that is immersive and sculptural. The home ultimately unfolds more like a continuous art piece than a conventional condominium.
The house itself is a standalone art piece.
Extending the Landscape Indoors
The project begins with a single guiding idea. “The interior design extended this concept of ‘landscape’ into the apartment,” he explains. This “landscape” grows from the entrance and sweeps into the living, dining, study, and kitchen.
White walls form a calm canvas, while sweeping timber planes fold across ceilings and surfaces to create continuity and movement. At the study, right-angled solid walls were knocked down and replaced with customised curved glass, “not only to blend in and enhance the ‘Landscape’ concept but also extend the space and make the living area look bigger.”
Across the home, the treatment shifts with function. “The silhouette of white canvas with sweeping timber at the communal areas is reversed at the private areas to create a distinction between the spaces,” Ai Tiong says. In the bedrooms, this reversed palette creates a warm, timber-clad cocoon.
Each curve required drawings, models, mock-ups, and relentless recalibration.
Crafting the Impossible Curve
Ai Tiong is proudest of how the project’s concept, construction and completion came together. The build, however, proved the most gruelling. “The construction of the features was tedious and meticulous. The curves are not only two-dimensional but three-dimensional… curved at both the X and Y axis.” Perfecting each curve required drawings, models, mock-ups, and relentless recalibration.
On site, curve lines were marked on the walls and ceilings and continually adjusted as the underlying skeletons took form. “There was lots of fine-tuning along the way,” he says. Even the carpenter joked about never wanting to build such a concept again, “and I told him I am as reluctant to do this again as him!”
Despite the project’s ambition, Ai Tiong remained practical. “It was a brand-new development then, so we minimised hacking and kept the existing materials to prevent wastage,” he explains. Built-in fitments and cupboards were integrated into the curved features, and existing doors were spray-painted or veneered “so as not to be wasteful.”
Hidden lighting traces the curves around the house.
A Lyrical Home of Light, Texture, and Flow
The project’s strength lies not only in its form but in how light animates it. Hidden lighting traces the curves, revealing the architecture as an ever-changing silhouette. “These accent lights also create a surprising and interesting effect of reflections of ‘landscape’ on the floors and glass,” he says.
The home also reflects Ai Tiong’s identity as both architect and artist. “I always regard myself more like an artist than a studio master or business owner,” he shares. “I like to be hands-on on site.” It also aligns with his firm’s name, Lyrical Architecture Today. “Coincidentally, this project expresses fluidity, sensuousness and flow—very fitting to my firm’s lyrical philosophy.”
The Appeal
Landscape Apartment turns a typical condo into an immersive interior artwork. Its sweeping curves and meticulously crafted forms reveal how a strong concept and courageous clients can redefine the experience of home.
Lim Ai Tiong (LATO) Architects/Design is a multiple award-winning boutique architecture and interior design consultancy, founded and led by Registered Architect Lim Ai Tiong, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture (Honours) from the University of Newcastle, Australia.
Lim Ai Tiong (LATO) Architects/Design
Lim Ai Tiong (LATO) Architects/Design is a multiple award-winning boutique architecture and interior design consultancy offering comprehensive design and project management services for residential and commercial projects. Established in 2001, the firm is registered with the Board of Architects (BOA) and is a corporate member of the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) and the Interior Design Confederation Singapore (IDCS).
Founded and led by Registered Architect Lim Ai Tiong, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture (Honours) from the University of Newcastle, Australia, the studio integrates architecture and interior design to deliver cohesive, well-considered spaces.
With over 25 years of experience, Lim Ai Tiong boasts exceptional strength in spatial and layout planning, alongside a refined approach to contemporary architecture and interior creation. Each project is guided by design excellence and a commitment to timelessness, resulting in distinctive concepts that make every home a unique and enduring conversation piece.
At the heart of LATO’s philosophy lies a desire to bridge disjointed spaces and unify the relationships between form, function and everyday life. Each project is designed to promote aesthetic clarity and cohesion, enhancing how people live and interact within their spaces while creating environments that remain relevant and engaging over time.