DESIGN BRIEF
This an experimental building design where the comfort cooling is provided by integration with the extensive water feature and pool for evaporative cooling and extensive sun shading devices.
The house is designed based on the programmes that reflect the lifestyle and culture of a family of an expatriates couple who divide their time between Malaysia and Singapore.
The Clients’ design brief calls for a timeless building with the tenets of Green principles and values. An emphasis on good design, innovation and ease for maintenance has also been carried all throughout.
In its layout, the building consists of a public domain that houses the family area, a games room and semi-outdoor patio and a private wing that consists of the bedrooms, a study room and a sun deck.
Other spaces include: dry and wet kitchens, utility room, yard, bathrooms, driveway, driver’s space, maids’ bedrooms, gallery, space for showcase of artworks.
Built-form Orientation
The orientation of the building is configured by the location’s solar path. The generally open layout plan and landscaped garden and courtyards take into consideration the clients’ requirements for organic interaction between the various spaces.
Entrance Canopy
The entrance canopy at the front driveway serves as a feature marking the entrance to the building with the roof designed to appear as hovering lightly above the metal mesh sliding gate. The structural design provides a wider frontage to the driveway. This space serves as a transition space that moderates the differences in temperature and brightness between the outside and inside. To enhance the great sense of arrival, the threshold to the internal spaces is marked by a huge front door that is crafted to cater for many modes of arrival.
Outdoor patio
This area also serves as a connector-space between the building’s internal spaces and the external landscaped areas. The outdoor patio is shaded from the rain and afternoon soon and has a comfortable microclimate zone
Boundary Fencing
The boundary fencing is brickwork with plaster and paint with random vertical gaps on keystone retaining wall in natural raw finish. A recess at the fence wall’s concrete footing base demarcates the two walls a water down the high monolithic wall structure which is located along the main road but tapers down as it approaches the entrance. Along the perimeter fencing, lighting fixtures are inserted in between the vertical gaps to provide lighting that covers both sides of the fence walls.
Pool and courtyard
A pool courtyard that consists of a tropical pool and the semi-outdoor patio functions as a separator and connector between the public domain and private wing. Apart from the sun deck that can be accessed from the gallery, the in-pool steps are built to serve as entry/ exit points and functions as a sun shelf for sitting and lounging in the pool.
Skylights
Selected areas are designed with skylights to maximise daylight and provide views to the sky.
Flexible open plan layout
The open plan layout of the building allows for flexibility. There is a total of 9 usable rooms in this building that may be converted for different functions in the future.
