Located in Bukit Timah, Singapore amongst the verdant landscape lies a two-story modern home of wood, concrete stucco, flagstone, limestone, granite, marble and lots of shallow ponds.
To unconsciously guide visitors to the living pavilion above, a minimal spiral staircase touches down within the entrance foyer.
An oculus within the pond highlights the main entrance, the circle of sunlight cooled and animated by the constantly changing sinusoidal patterns of refracted rays through the water above.
The koi pond’s thirty meter length and two meter width exposes a sixty square meter surface area within the house to capture the breezes for evaporative cooling. Hints of the tree-lined views are seen through the large circular void connecting the entrance foyer to the pavilion above.
The long koi pond runs the length of the home alongside a path that leads to the bedrooms on the ground floor.
The second story has reflecting ponds that surround the upstairs pavilion. The purpose of the second story pond is also designed to thermally insulate the dining, bedrooms and family spaces underneath from solar heat gain. In the same way, the water body above also helps to regulate temperature swings within the house. Both bodies of water were designed to facilitate in micro-cooling the rooms and spaces as well as provide an experience of serenity and isolation.
Plans and architectural drawings:
photos by and © Albert Lim
images and information courtesy of ArchDaily
Wallflower Architects
Design Team: Cecil Chee, Robin Tan & Sean Zheng