House at Bishopsgate, Singapore

Project Description

The entrance level of the sloping site is at the second storey level. Here, the architecture is kept to the minimum: a minimally expressed garage, separated from an entertainment pavilion by a sumptuous stone wall. The view explodes in all directions when one enters the building and sees what beckons beyond. A gleaming pool that extends all the way to the rear boundary takes centre-stage at the garden below. A lofty covered pool terrace lines one entire length of the pool, while a beautiful lawn with sculptural coral trees at the periphery line the other. The refreshing green of the carpet grass and the azure blue of the infinity edged pool form the main elements of the essential landscape of the large house.

Despite its size, the house is composed of streamlined one-room-thick pavilions, and protected against the harsh tropical environment with transitory spaces, carrying the traditional banner of how effective tropical architecture is to be designed, but with a modern, unadorned expression. The rhythm created by the verandahs and colonnades, together with the elongated expression of horizontal elements and the over-sailing low pitched roofs give the house a sense of well-proportioned grandeur.