The design catalyst for this home is an existing teakwood staircase that this family of avid readers wanted to retain. Sona Decor Singapore finds out how the architect’s design marries the old and new while exploring the fundamentals of design such as proportion and layering.
As a family who loves to read and with two sons who are in primary and secondary school, the clients’ brief to architect, Woon Chung Yen, founder and principal of Metre Architects, was to have the living room designed as a study cum reading area.
Who Lives Here A couple in their 50s and their two sons
Home A HDB maisonette in Hougang
Size 1,593 sq ft (147 sqm)
Interior Designer Metre Architects
Retained Old Teak Staircase
The husband, who works in IT, and the wife, who is a teacher, also wanted to retain the existing staircase in the maisonette as the teakwood is of very high quality and is in excellent condition despite the unit being about thirty years old.
![metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-04-820x1024-1 The double volume stairwell is like a notional courtyard defined by the entrance cabinet and staircase. It creates a layering of spaces and offers a pause in the spatial progression.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-04-820x1024-1.jpg)
Designed Around Wood Staircase
This was Woon’s cue to adopt a conservational approach to the project and come up with an interior design that would harmoniously integrate this ‘vintage’ element with the new.
“The functional requirements were not difficult to fulfil. It is the design aesthetics that were harder to convey,” Woon admits.
He shared that the homeowners did not want cabinetry works that are rigid and utilitarian and they showed him images of what they liked.
He interpreted their requirements, made astute inferences and concluded that what they wanted was something with a sense of rhythm and which enhances the overall ambience of the space instead of simply providing storage.
Diagonal Lines & Geometry
Using the diagonal line of the existing staircase as a starting point, Woon generated a formal language comprising inclined geometries that come together to address form, function and ergonomics.
The first of a series of key elements is a floor-to-ceiling cabinet near the main entrance.
Its unique slant, along with the staircase, creates a polygonal entrance portal that not only defines the threshold, but also serves as a privacy screen from the common corridor.
This was something that was important to the homeowners as they were uncomfortable with the original layout, which is typical of most apartments in Singapore where the interior is in the direct line-of-sight from the main entrance.
![metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-02-645x1024-1 The geometry and size of the entrance cabinet posed challenges in terms of fabrication, transport and installation.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-02-645x1024-1.jpg)
Diagonal Entrance Cabinet
The entrance cabinet is also a manifestation of Woon’s exploration in articulating layered spaces within the flat. Its angled form strikes a dialogue with the staircase, which imbues the double-volume stairwell with the spatial quality of a triangulated courtyard.
This notional courtyard delineates the dining area upfront, beside the main entrance, from the study and reading area beyond.
![metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-16-1024x737-1 An angled study table opposite the staircase acts as a funnel that draws you into the reading and study area.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-16-1024x737-1.jpg)
Staircase is Focal Point
As the pivotal element within the whole design, the staircase itself was given a lot of design attention. Woon introduced a triangular display shelf at the mid-landing that extends beyond the balustrades.
“Symbolically, this represents a new growth sprouting from an old teak tree,” he points out. Functionally, the cabinet also houses recessed lighting and the home’s WI-FI router.
The triangulated shelf projects beyond the staircase mid-landing, cascades down to the study desk below and turns the corner into a reading bench with shelves below.
The whole transition is negotiated through a series of tiers and levels, angles and chamfers that ties in with the vocabulary of the rest of the home.
![metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-03-798x1024-1 The customised dining bench serves three purposes- as seating, for shoe storage, as well as defining the entrance foyer threshold.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-03-798x1024-1.jpg)
Renovation Cost: $70,000
The design and construction took about five months and the family moved into their new home in September 2021. The renovations cost about $70,000, excluding furniture and furnishings, and priority was given to the living room study and reading areas.
The existing layout was retained and no hacking of walls was necessary as the rectilinear floor plan provided a suitable blank canvas. However, the flooring, light fixtures, air-conditioning units and sanitary fittings were replaced.
A fluted glass panel allows light from the kitchen into the living space. Its unconventional geometry was inspired by a Chinese poem about the moon rising over the mountain.
![metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-18-589x1024-1 A fluted glass panel allows light from the kitchen into the living space. Its unconventional geometry was inspired by a Chinese poem about the moon rising over the mountain.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-18-589x1024-1.jpg)
Lots of Carpentry Works
The renovation also involved extensive built-in carpentry works.
“The existing cabinetry felt rigid, utilitarian and were rather piecemeal in terms of not having a coherent design language and strategy,” Woon comments.
He considers having the design done to both the clients’ and his satisfaction only half the battle won. Another crucial step is finding the right contractor and carpenter who are able to realise the design.
![metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-19-1024x748-1 The bedrooms on the second storey have been kept as free and open as possible and the design of the bed, desk and shelves complements the built-ins in the study and reading area downstairs.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-19-1024x748-1.jpg)
Kia Hock Furniture and Renovation
And he found just the man for the job – master carpenter, Ng Soo Hock from Kia Hock Furniture and Renovation.
Although he is getting on in years, he is always up for a challenge and derives great satisfaction in successfully executing Woon’s unique designs, even if the unusual geometries are more challenging to fabricate and take more effort and time.
![metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-17-1024x845-1 The above- and under-counter kitchen cabinets have been replaced in a colour and material palette that is more in keeping with the rest of the home.](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/metre-architects-449-hougang-avenue-10-17-1024x845-1.jpg)
Carpentry Works Benefits
To Woon, “musical notes are to music what forms are to architecture”.
As an architect, he believes that interior design is also about form-making and the carpentry determines the form in the context of an interior.
“Carpentry works fulfil both functional requirements, as well as aesthetic aspirations through the moulding of space,” he explains.
This was exactly what he set out to achieve in this home and it definitely seems like he has accomplished it. Unlike in their previous home where everyone would be holed up in their own bedrooms, the homeowners shared that since moving into their new home, they have been spending more time together within the same space.