For SkyTerrace @ Dawson resident Cheah Tse Boon, home is more like a luxurious hotel than a public housing estate.
“I feel like I’m on a perpetual staycation,” says the 43-year-old of the 2009-launched new generation housing project, which clinched the Housing Board (HDB) Design Award in 2015.
With its gleaming, glassy facade, luxuriant landscaping, cascading terraces and verdant sky gardens, Sky Terrace @ Dawson might well be mistaken for a leafy resort oasis amid the mature Queenstown neighbourhood.
Sky Terrace @ Dawson: Central Location
Its prime central location — near town, their families, work and good schools — was the biggest draw for Mr Cheah and his 45-year-old wife Jean Foo.
Together with their then three-year-old son as well as Ms Foo’s parents, they moved into their multi-generation 1,313 sq ft (122 sqm) five-room HDB loft unit with an attached studio apartment in June 2015.
Unique HDB Loft Unit
With its novel “loft concept” and multi-generation living scheme, the Cheahs’ unit encompasses two unique features in HDB’s bid to jazz up public housing and encourage extended families to live together.
![jl-hdb-dawsonterrace-ngtseboon07-666x1024-1 House Tour: Sky Terrace @ Dawson 5-Room HDB loft unit](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jl-hdb-dawsonterrace-ngtseboon07-666x1024-1.jpg)
3-Gen HDB: Convenient Childcare Help
Mr Cheah, an executive, says having his parents-in-law just next door in the attached unit affords them privacy, yet enables the doting grandparents to be close enough to help take care of their young grandson.
“This is a good arrangement, especially since both of us are working parents. We can also respond to any emergencies faster,” he adds.
![jl-hdb-dawsonterrace-ngtseboon02-1024x692-1 House Tour: Sky Terrace @ Dawson 5-Room HDB loft unit](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jl-hdb-dawsonterrace-ngtseboon02-1024x692-1.jpg)
The Perfect First Home
With all the pluses, price was the only hurdle for the Cheahs when they balloted for the unit in 2009. The HDB BTO (Build-to-Order) unit cost as much as a resale flat then, and to Mr Cheah, this was “against all financial logic”.
However, the first-time homeowner was glad they persisted.
![jl-hdb-dawsonterrace-ngtseboon03-680x1024-1 House Tour: Sky Terrace @ Dawson 5-Room HDB loft unit](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jl-hdb-dawsonterrace-ngtseboon03-680x1024-1.jpg)
Sky Terrace @ Dawson: Eco-Friendly Features
A fan of “eco-living”, Mr Cheah likes Sky Terrace @ Dawson’s eco-friendly features such as its water-saving irrigation methods to water the plants and solar energy systems to power lighting in common areas.
Built with HDB’s then novel “Housing-in-a-Park” concept, the design of the loft also allows plenty of sunlight to permeate the Cheahs’ living space, enabling house plants to flourish and brightening up the ambience.
Scenic View of Botanic Gardens
Nature is never too far away.
In addition to the park connector nearby, which Mr Cheah loves for his evening runs as well as cycling to work, the view of the Botanic Gardens from his living room is also one he cannot get enough of.
![jl-hdb-dawsonterrace-ngtseboon01-1024x728-1 House Tour: Sky Terrace @ Dawson 5-Room HDB loft unit](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jl-hdb-dawsonterrace-ngtseboon01-1024x728-1.jpg)
“It adds to the feeling of a cosmopolitan lifestyle, as though I’m staying in Manhattan overlooking Central Park in New York,” he says.
It may yet be too early for their new home to be filled with happy memories, but Mr Cheah’s son is already warming up to the place.
“Seeing my three-year-old boy having a sense of ownership and playing his part in helping to clean the house is definitely memorable for me,” he says.
First appeared in The Straits Times on 24 September 2015.