It’s not very often that you see a full suit of armour in a home. In a castle, perhaps, but certainly not in a high-rise condominium apartment in Hillview.
Surprisingly, the armour and other unusually decadent design elements – like a stylised stag head and an antler-shaped chandelier – sit beautifully within the dark, chic and cosy bachelor pad that Carmen Tang of Wolf Woof designed for Alan Tan. He moved in together with Pistachio, his four-year-old Persian cat, in September 2020 after a renovation period of three months.
AT A GLANCE
Home: Two-bedroom condominium apartment in Hillview
Size: 807 sqft
Who lives here: A bachelor and his cat
ID: Wolf Woof
The location of the apartment was a natural choice for Alan, who has lived in the Hillview area for most of his life and enjoys running in the nearby Bukit Batok Nature Park. He left the design to Carmen, specifying only that he wanted a walk-in wardrobe and a bar. “I trust Carmen and the way she works,” says Alan.
Since it was a loft home, one of the main advantages it had was a 5.7m-high ceiling. Carmen made use of the extra vertical space to build a loft bar, accessible via a winding staircase. The loft overlooks the living area, and this is where Alan entertains friends and occasionally does his work. “I was inspired by Manhattan Bar,” says Alan. Indeed, the dark walnut tones and discreet gold accents bear a striking resemblance to the palette of the award-winning bar in Regent Hotel.
The rest of the apartment features similar gold, leather and walnut accents, highlighted against a backdrop of black walls. Even though the overall palette is dark, it doesn’t feel cramped or stuffy at all, thanks to Carmen’s visual emphasis on the height of the apartment. Most of the wall décor stretches from ground to ceiling, drawing the eye up and making the space feel much larger.
Of these, a display featuring a stylised brass stag head against a background of walnut laminate in the living room is perhaps the most eye-catching – and you won’t find anything else like it in the world, because Carmen pulled the entire display piece together herself.
“I sourced the stag head and laminate pieces separately to custom-make the piece,” she says. The same was done for a framed lion’s head in the master bedroom. One of the challenges Carmen faced was ensuring that the shades of gold she selected were similar.
“It’s tricky because gold comes in different tones, and we didn’t want anything to be too yellow,” she shared. Her efforts paid off, however, resulting in a cohesive palette throughout the apartment.
Mirroring the stag display piece is the TV feature wall, which also stretches an impressive 5.7 metres high. The wall’s focal point is a symbol in Hebrew, which means “grace”, and the same symbol appears as a stylised part of the bar’s sign upstairs as well as on the custom-made coasters. “It’s all in the details,” laughs Alan.
For Alan’s storage requirements, Carmen created a double-storey walk-in wardrobe to house his belongings. This meant being able to fully utilise all the vertical space available, with the upper level accessible by means of a sliding ladder akin to the ones in large libraries.
There’s another wardrobe in the study, tucked under another flight of stairs – yes, this home has two staircases – leading up to a sleeping area. “My friends often bunk over, so I wanted this to double up as a guest room,” says Alan.
In order to make room, Carmen and Alan decided to do away with a dining area, replacing it with a peninsula bar that doubles up as a breakfast counter. The centre of the bar features a hidden extension that can be pulled out to provide even more table space, should Alan have more dinner guests.
“It’s all about knowing where to save and where to splurge,” says Carmen. With the right accents and lighting, it’s proved possible that a bachelor pad can be elevated beyond the realm of understated style into a work of art.
Art direction: Nonie Chen
Photography: Veronica Tay