Architect(s) : Aamer Architects
Address : 7 Jln Remis, SINGAPORE, Singapore
Latitude/Longitude : 1.315142,103.936138
Photographs : Sanjay Kewlani
Project Architect : Aamer Taher
Project Team Members : Jasni Ngahtemin, Albert Yeo, Rayson Kan
Land / Built-up area : 334 m2 / 424 m2
Civil & Structural Engineer : J S Tan Consultants Pte Ltd
Quantity Surveyor : K H Lim
Contractor : Workshop ID & Build Pte Ltd
Landscape : Nyee Phoe Flower Garden Pte Ltd
Text description provided by the architects. As a typology, the semi-detached house is often perceived as a Siamese twin, reluctantly conjoined to its symmetrical other via a single party wall. The desire to challenge such a notion drives the parti of this single- family house. By separating and pulling the main building block away from the party wall, a semi-detached house breaks free.
Not only does this formally and aesthetically liberate the house from its neighbour; it also creates a 3m-wide fissure into which light and air penetrate deep into its interiors.
One enters the house through the front of this fissure, where he is greeted by a double-storey volume foyer naturally lit from above. Light splashes onto the richly-textured brick wall, casting shadows which vary in form and intensity over time. The light leads one up the staircase onto the second storey. By now, the fissure manifests itself as a gathering realm for the family.
In this funnel-like, naturally-ventilated space, wind passes through freely from the front to the back, both ends at which pockets of green have been inserted. Deep overhangs and operable blinds protect the interiors where necessary.
Herein lies the beauty of the house: a space which is at once sheltered yet connected to its environment. Such is the simple delight of tropical living.
Contributed by Aamer Architects
