Public housing has come a long way in Singapore providing the needs for 80-90% of the population. The perception of public housing in the world is perhaps not of the best, but in Singapore, the quality and standards of these apartments well rest above the poverty line, driving prices rocket high.

The client had just returned from a three-year long diplomatic stint and was looking to refurbish his apartment to welcome his new addition to the family.

As with all projects, pragmatics was the primary driving force of this project. The main challenge was to reconfigure a public housing apartment amidst the regulatory constraints into an object of spatial flow. The present main foyer/dining/living/kitchen space was segmented with proportions that were not user friendly. The foyer area and the kitchen entrance were too generous and encroached upon the dining room.

After a study of the existing structure, we removed one of the non-load bearing walls and reconfigured the rest of the surrounding spaces. The concept was simple: to create a large space with distributed furniture and a mirrored surface to reflect the surrounding spaces. The kitchen was subdivided into a wet and dry area with part of the latter extending to become a foyer cabinet. The dining space became larger and visual continuity was achieved with all the surrounding built-in furniture; from the foyer to the dry kitchen to the living room set. It became a set of separate furniture pieces for one big space!

The design approach to the individual furniture pieces were derived from their inherent functions and their relationship to each other in that particular space. For example, the slope of the entrance foyer piece was a reflection of the inclined shoe rack enclosed in the bottom cabinet and the gap between the top and bottom pieces provided natural cross ventilation and a view towards the entrance from the kitchen. The furniture pieces were designed as a set for the space and related to the bigger spatial flow with geometry and material continuity.

Perhaps the most interesting process about this project was the virtual dialogue between the client and contractor in Singapore whilst the design was being done in Beijing. Kudos to modern communication technology.

Data

Designer:
Studio SKLIM – Kevin S. K. Lim.
Singapore
www.sklim.com
Client: Private
Location: Singapore
Project type: Interior
Area: 110 sq m
Date: 2009

Credits & Copyrights

Design/Drawings/Text:
Studio SKLIM – Kevin S. K. Lim.
www.sklim.com

Photoes:
Jeremy San

Source:
Studio SKLIM – Kevin S. K. Lim.
www.sklim.com

No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Morfae and the copyright owner.