April 25, 2024
True to Japanese interior design, every feature in this home balances form and function.
As HDB dwellers, we’re used to the 2.6m height of our homes – but upon stepping into this 4-bedroom Woodlands condo, we were instantly awed. A majestic loft towered over us, making the already-impressive height even more imposing.
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“The ceiling height is about 3.5 meters,” Ken, the Design Director of Urban Home Design, explained amidst our ooh-ing and aah-ing, “It’s inspired by Japanese design, where they always try to utilise all the available space, including building upwards. And since the ceiling is so high, why not create something that makes use of it?”
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While homes in Singapore tend to feel small, this home was anything but. What was originally a narrow living room was opened up after Ken hacked the walls of the adjacent bedroom, creating a spacious communal area that now houses a dining area and full-height bookshelf.
“Nowadays, we’re always on our devices,” Ken said. “For hours each day, we rarely look up from our smartphones and connect with one another. By opening up the living room, we can easily see and talk to one another, which encourages family bonding.”
The floorplan of Ken’s home, pre-renovation
Previously living in an HDB flat, Ken decided that it was a good idea to upgrade. After months of searching, he eventually found this condo – which, according to him, was a good balance of price and floor size.
The floorplan of Ken’s home, post-renovation
“The previous owner had already built features like the loft and some of the kitchen counters – we just changed the design,” he said. “For the floorplan, the only thing we did was to hack the bedroom wall to open up the living room.”
With a helper cooking meals for the family on a regular basis, Ken decided to separate the kitchen into a wet and dry area, with a sliding glass door neatly dividing the space.
In the dry kitchen, a kitchen island is built parallel to the cabinets, providing the family an additional seating area.
“It’s a multifunctional area,” Ken said. “It’s where I eat my breakfast, check my emails, play games on my phone, and things like that. If I have guests over, I use it to put the buffet spread. My kids also sometimes sit here to do their homework.”
“At my wife’s suggestion, we included this travertine backing to add a natural touch to the space,” said Ken.
One of the main visual highlights of the living room is the extended TV feature wall and console – but, as Ken emphasised, it’s equally functional as it is aesthetically-pleasing.
“I intentionally designed the console for it to be a place for people to sit,” he said. “So, while the kids like to sit on the sofa, old people like myself like to sit here (laughs), where you see my son standing in the photo. It feels more comfortable, and it also lets us accommodate more people within the space.”
“The top ledge of the feature wall has a purpose – it’s a walkway for my cats to sit and jump on from the loft.”
Upon seeing the ‘floating’ steps design of the stairs leading up to the loft, we immediately had a few questions: was it safe? Was there a maximum weight each step can take?
Ken responds by assuring us that each step was indeed sturdy. “Before I became an interior designer, I was a structural engineer,” he said, “so I know how to make sure that these steps can handle heavy weights. Each step has a steel bar, so they’re actually very strong.”
To prove his point, he repeatedly jumped up and down on one of the steps. “See, even someone as big as me can jump on the steps without any problems,” he said, laughing.
About the loft itself, Ken said: “In Japanese design, every feature needs to have both form and function, so we applied that here. While the loft is mainly used for storage, the edge is designed as a study area that both my kids and I can use.”
“My daughter will say that this is her favourite room in the house,” Ken said. “You’ll usually find her sitting here playing with her toys, doing her homework, or painting something.”
“We also included a tatami platform by the window. Currently, we use it as a place to sit as well as for storage, but it’s also designed for future use. It’s actually wide enough to fit a single size mattress. So, if my kids decide that they want separate bedrooms when they’re older, we can close off this area and convert it back to a bedroom for my son.”
“If need be, we can put up curtains on the beams to close off the space, without needing any renovation.”
“That’s the future plan, at least. For now, it’ll remain open.”
Similar to the loft, the kids’ bedroom was intentionally designed as a loft bunk bed to fully utilise the unit’s 3.5 metre ceiling height. And true to Ken’s word on balancing form and function, storage areas were added under the staircase and along the opposite wall to maximise every inch of floor space.
“If you’re wondering what that pink corner is, it was painted by my daughter about two weeks after we moved in,” said Ken, with a smile that’s both fond and exasperated.
“After I found out about it, I wanted to scold her, but my wife convinced me not to, because she’s just trying to be creative. So okay lah, I didn’t scold her, to encourage her to have an open heart.”
To allow both his kids to use the bathroom at the same time, Ken made the decision to shift the vanity out of the bathroom. “This way, one of them can be showering while the other brushes their teeth outside,” he said. “They won’t need to rush or fight for the toilet, which makes all of our lives easier.”
More than just a storage space for Ken and his wife’s clothes, the L-shaped walk-in wardrobe also functions as a room divider that separates the sleeping area from the rest of the room.
“With this, the noise from whoever is getting ready in the wardrobe area won’t transfer to the sleeping area so easily,” Ken explained.
Like the common bathroom, the vanity from the ensuite was shifted out of the bathroom; it was built adjacent to the wardrobe, creating a neat lead-in from the entrance of the bedroom to the ensuite.
“Over the course of my interior design career, I’ve had a lot of clients tell me that they’re reluctant to hack away an extra bedroom because it’ll affect the future value of the house,” Ken said.
“Personally, I find that an open space encourages us to spend quality time together, so I try my best to use my home as an example of how it can affect the household lifestyle.”
“And anyway, if you’re selling the house in the future, you can always build the wall back up. The important thing is the ‘now’, and how you want your family to use the space at this point in time.”
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