Location: Singapore, Singapore.

Architect: Guz Architects Pte Ltd.

The client wanted an exciting and dynamic house that made the most of the steeply sloping site overlooking the botanic gardens. The design process was organic, with rooms being added as the design developed, making it difficult to maintain a coherent design. Feng Shui played a major role in determining elements of the design, such as the round lift and angling of the front door. The site was on a busy road, and the steep slope made vehicular access difficult, so the design minimized the discrepancy between the first floor platform level and the road level by entering at basement level and creating a light airy basement entry with a courtyard and landscaped pond. The building was designed to appear light and to ‘float’ with large cantilevers of thin elements to reduce the apparent mass of the building seen from the road. For materials and methods of construction, RC construction was used for the lower floors, but for the upper floors, a combination of RC and steel was used to achieve the large cantilevers. The attic floor was entirely steel structure with an aluminium roof that also supports a large array of photovoltaic cells.

Photo credit: Patrick Bingham-Hall.