Frame House

Ming Architects

Short description

This contemporary family home is sited directly opposite a lush park containing a children’s playground, lined by a row of mature rain trees which reach towering heights of ten to fifteen metres above the street. The house was designed to create direct views from the master bedroom and roof terrace onto the lush green canopies formed by the rain trees lining the park.

The client's brief was for family home for a young couple with a young child. On the first floor, privacy was important, so we solidified the external wall, except for a small glass viewing panel to the street. On the second floor, to control incoming views from pedestrians looking into the master bedroom, we designed a set of sliding screens which can be closed for privacy when needed.

The design of the exteriors came from the idea of creating these framed views across to the park. Maximizing the openings on the front elevation of the building resulted in strong rectilinear forms expressed in stone cladded stacked frames, infilled with moving timber screens where required for privacy. The use of chamfers on the structural elements was employed to refine the building bulk and create a tone of subtle lightness. Continuing on the same theme, light tones were selected for the materials - Bulgarian limestone cladding, off-form concrete walls, and brushed oak paneling for the interiors.

The layout is orientated around an internal open courtyard, upon which the living and circulation spaces are centered on. In this way, the house acts as a buffer and shields the occupants from the main street, creating an inner oasis with views of lush landscaping and water to calm the senses of the occupants. Designed to rely fully on natural lighting in the day, The courtyard draws in daylight, breeze and ventilation deep within the house, and incorporates nature into the living environment, focused on a single Caesalpinia tree. During the day, the breeze rippling through the tree branches creates shifting shadows on the courtyard walls.

In addition to the courtyard, we created a double height void over the dining and dry kitchen, with a small library reading area overlooking it from the second floor above. The library also acts as a bridge connector between the master at the front, and two children's bedrooms at the back.

The entry experience was deliberate and designed to bring one through a procession of spaces before entering the house, with calculated changes in scale of heights and light along the way. One passes through a covered walkway interspersed with planting, past a waterfall feature wall to bring in the sound and view of water, and finally into the open courtyard decorated with a single tree, before entering the house. The layout is orientated around an internal open courtyard, upon which the living and circulation spaces are centered on. In this way, the house acts as a buffer and shields the occupants from the main street, creating an inner oasis with views of lush landscaping and water to calm the senses of the occupants. Designed to rely fully on natural lighting in the day, the courtyard draws in daylight, breeze and ventilation deep within the house, and incorporates nature into the living environment.

Sustainability wise - the house is designed to rely fully on natural lighting in the day. The courtyard draws in daylight, wind and breeze into the house from the large openings at the third storey level. It also allows for cross-ventilation at the dining/dry kitchen and improves the whole livability of the house by incorporating nature into their living environment. The house employs architectural elements common in the tropics such as sun canopies and screens, which are important for living in Singapore's tropical climate.

In all our architecture, it has always been our intention to scale down our houses as much as meaningfully possible, while still being able to accommodate the owner's brief. This is not only more economical and results in a greener design, but more importantly this allows us to create open voids, courtyards, high ceilings which improve the spatial quality and bring in nature and light deep into the internal spaces of our houses.