In Singapore, a house with 80 windows – that bring the family closer
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In Singapore, a firm with 80 windows – that bring the family unit closer
With numerous windows that open out onto greenery too as into dissimilar rooms, staying at domicile is never slow for this family of three.
The internal layout of the business firm is an Escher-like sequence of spaces tunnelling from one to another around a landscaped courtyard. (Photograph: Fabian Ong)
27 Sep 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 05 Jul 2022 12:47AM)
From the exterior, it is hard to tell how many levels the Window House has. Openings of various sizes bundled in a seemingly random pattern puncture the facade of the two-and-a-half-storey house with a basement, blurring scale and stratification.
There are eighty windows in all on the external and internal walls of the business firm designed past Formwerkz Architects and Super Assembly. The latter'south founder, Iskandar Idris, honed his skills at the old, reputed for its inventive dwelling designs. He collaborates with Formwerkz on some projects, such every bit this.
It is not just the windows that give intrigue to this house, lived in by a couple, their four-year-old daughter and their helper. The internal layout – an Escher-like sequence of spaces tunnelling from ane to another around a landscaped courtyard – makes moving through it every bit compelling.
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The multitude of windows, some aligned to visually connect to other internal spaces, stretch and multiply perspectives to make the house appear bigger than it is. They besides frame views of the landscape, bring awareness to happenings in different parts of the business firm, and enhance natural illumination.
"You cannot really read the business firm from the outside; y'all demand to enter and explore, and then the house reveals itself. What you see is always changing as you move, so the experiences are never the same," said Idris.
This ambulatory aspect is deliberate. The owner did not like the characterless, singular, vast living areas in other homes he had visited.
"Nosotros don't need any specific area to be big every bit long every bit the living and dining does not feel besides far away from each other, and the spaces are interconnected. Nosotros did not desire our daughter's room to be large so she volition [be forced to] come out," said the owner.
He wanted a house with various spatial qualities to relax in and entertain his huge extended family during festive seasons. "But it shouldn't exist just tons of rooms that would inevitably exist under-utilised when the parties are over. Then we designed the spaces to be a continuous landscape where 1 could freely move and search for his or her cosy corner depending on mood and fourth dimension of day," said Alan Tay, a partner at Formwerkz Architects.
"I similar that there are at least 10 different spots in the house that I can savour sitting down and doing dissimilar activities," said the owner. There are no less than five sofas spread throughout for this purpose, including in the second storey family area.
"From the outside, the house looks unconventional. Only inside, it is perfectly [peaceful] every bit the windows take been designed to focus your eyes on a particular view, and each has a different scenery," he said.
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"You lot cannot really read the house from the exterior; you need to enter and explore, and and then the business firm reveals itself. What yous see is always changing as you move, and so the experiences are never the aforementioned." – Iskandar Idris
The house'south basement is at route level, giving privacy to the elevated living spaces. There are two ways to enter the firm: Either up a series of steps to the pool and garden, which is overlooked by the living room; or from the 4-car basement garage via a striking ruddy spiral staircase.
The ample windows effectually the staircase ways the basement is not dark and secluded – something the possessor wanted to avoid. While tall trees in the courtyard bring the attention toward the heaven, the screw staircase turns the focus downward to the basement mezzanine where the daughter has her pianoforte lessons. It overlooks a lower basement containing a lounge and moving picture room.
The house'south differential top and non-linear layout can be disruptive for first-fourth dimension visitors. The owner candidly shared that his mother notwithstanding gets lost even though she visits twice weekly to look subsequently her grandchild. On the other hand, his retired father knows every nook and cranny as he helped manage the project during construction.
The architects' apply of colour thus not but enriches the house, merely also helps in way-finding. Tay shared that information technology was inspired by the colourful Memphis design movement of the 1980s. On the exterior, turquoise ceramic tiles and off-form physical juxtapose in textural dialogue. Aside from the eye-catching tone of the spiral staircase, burgundy cabinets back the study, a vermillion screen heralds the pulverisation room, bathrooms feature colourful mosaic tiles, and the television consoles in different common areas each accept a different shade.
If this spirited use of color and graphic windows, as well equally topographical way of traversing the house delights adults, information technology is all the more enjoyable for the daughter and immature visitors.
The owner agreed, sharing that while he takes the lift from his attic bedroom direct to the dining room for breakfast in the forenoon, his girl chooses the longer route of running down the stairs, taking a pause in an upholstered window niche to notice birds in the courtyard, and nips in and out of her playroom before arriving in the dining room.
The playroom, which is adjacent to the dining room, is coated in deep green blackboard pigment. Adults can spotter children at play as they continue with their meals. There is an upholstered window niche for reading in, a raised hideaway and a built-in slide. "It is like a miniature [version] of the firm," Idris described.
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Equally the family unit only moved in at the beginning the year, they accept not yet organised large gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the circuit breaker has given them plentiful time to sympathise the house's peculiarities.
"I discovered that our family could spend a lot of time with my daughter indoors. Nosotros read books to her in diverse corners of the house, watched movies together, did up the music corner in the basement mezzanine and [created an impromptu] sports corner in the basement lounge," said the owner. The loftier ceilings in the lounge were well suited to indoor tennis games.
While he inappreciably used the puddle of the condominium he previously lived at, he now plays regularly with his daughter in the puddle. When the parks were airtight for a period during the excursion billow, the family found the spacious car park could double as cycling grounds – even for the adults.
Every bit for working from home, the owner was glad for a study that was not entirely discrete from the rest of the house. Through the layered windows, he could observe his daughter from his perch, while she was engaged in her habitation-based-learning session at the dining table.
The house has definitely connected the family more with nature, even if it is through views rather than existence physically immersed in it. The owner appreciates greenery merely wanted to go on the plants exterior, as he dislikes insects in the house.
"When I stayed in a condominium, I would wake to [a view of] the apartment opposite. At present when I wake up and pull the blinds up, I see the birds flying, and the bees going from tree to tree. And from the balcony, you tin can run into the stars at night," shared the owner.
The family unit accept also identified a resident squirrel and bird. "And if it is raining, I open the long window by the pool and sit at that place with my daughter, listening to the rain," said the satisfied owner.
"Nosotros designed the spaces to be a continuous mural where one could freely move and search for his or her cosy corner depending on mood and fourth dimension of twenty-four hour period." – Alan Tay
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/obsessions/singapore-home-tour-window-house-247341
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