Project Description

Residence at Astrid Hill, Singapore

The Tsao Residence is a 3-prong form sitting on a squarish 2,175sqm site that falls 10metres from the street level towards a valley along the rear of the site.

On one side, a lush, multi-layered fern gully with a cascading, meandering creek accompanies the multi-directional fall of the ground towards the rear. On the other, arched cascading turfed terraces with a water cascade animate the dramatic change in grade, culminating in a timber deck surrounded by a pebble swale.

Along the rear of the site, heavy landscaping was employed to screen off a huge garden wall in the neighbouring property. Landscaping was also designed and carried out in the neighbour’s grounds in front of the wall so vegetation appears to naturally fill the lowest portions of the valley, working themselves in and out and obscuring any sense of the divide in between the 2 properties.

Aesthetically, the building with its strong minimalist lines and formal gestures asserts its presence, yet seem to sit comfortably amidst the lush, natural landscaping and water features that weave in and out of the spaces defined by its austere form.

Neatly trimmed green roofs and green walls line large surfaces of the building, adding texture and play to the other teak-clad and off-form concrete walls of the facade, while technically keeping the building cool. At the lowest part of the site, a rain garden receives all the run-off before releasing the filtered water into the city drain.

The project was published in the May-Jun 2015 issue of FUTURARC.