Urban Home Design 二本設計家

We started out cold searching for IDs to help transform our resale flat, which required a total overhaul due to age and existing fittings. We contacted several firms, but the approach that Urban Home took was so different that it definitely stood out positively. They ask you a few questions upfront through email about your floor plan and general ideas, as well as preferences and inspirations. That way, when you first meet face-to-face, there's a proposed layout and even a preliminary 3D model of the whole house to refer to, including a fully fleshed-out quotation. This is entirely non-obligatory and prior to signing anything at all. The team then changes things in the floor plan and 3D model on the spot based on what you need or don't need. Chai Hwa was originally working with another ID as a pair, but the other person has since left the company, so Chai Hwa continued working with us on her own - this was definitely not a drawback, as she has been fantastic to work with and prompt to respond to our questions and liaise with her vendors about our concerns. She's also just generally fun to chat with, which makes it a great working relationship. After deciding on proceeding with the firm, we went through many changes to our layout because we have very specific ideas and needs based on our lifestyle, and also we kept getting inspired by new things. She took it all in stride (even the really out-there ideas) and edited the models and floor plan on the spot as we discussed so we could have a proper visual of what it would look like and how it would flow. In previous discussions with other firms, we noticed that some IDs tend to get a bit married to their own ideas for our house and didn't like it when we said we prefer something else. This never happened with Chai Hwa - she would take in what we wanted, and suggest tweaks to it based on practicality and real-world experience with materials and structures. In terms of workmanship and quality, we have zero complaints. There were of course one or two hiccups as we proceeded, but Chai Hwa was very quick to respond to anything we brought up and discuss the best way forward. She was also on-site to update us on the works as they went on, and spent time speaking with the downstairs neighbours about the demolition noise. Because she is the ID as well as the project manager, it was easy for us to communicate about the details. It's also clear that the firm has good relationships with their sub-contractors and vendors. In terms of budget, Chai Hwa was always quite frank about whether any works or ideas would result in higher cost. She would also take the time to get quotes from the sub-contractors before proceeding. For example, we previously hadn't decided to hack the floors, but after a walkthrough we realised we had to. Chai Hwa got pricing on the different options (total hacking, half hack half overlay, etc) so we could proceed with an informed decision. Timeline-wise we managed to keep things relatively on track, taking into account the slightly delayed timeline of demolition (mutually understood) and the overall delays of the pandemic. We also took our time to respond on some things so that caused further delay, but it was on our part. If there were any changes to timeline from the work end, Chai Hwa would update us - usually they were very prompt. We're still in the middle of rectifying the final little defects after handover, but even though all payments have been fully made, Chai Hwa continues to be very responsive to our messages and in liaising with the relevant vendors to sort things out. All in all, it has been a really good experience working with Urban Home and Chai Hwa!

Review for Chai Hwa: It had been a very exciting and challenging journey for the past few months as our new place was undergoing renovation. We have Chai Hwa to thank for for accommodating to our needs and wants. From our face to face discussion where she would tirelessly draft out the 3D models based on our numerous requests without any complaints, to managing the renovation works where she had to liaise with numerous contractors to get the tasks done, Chai Hwa had displayed nothing short of the ideal professionalism that a client could hope for. During one of our visits to check out the progress of the renovation, we noticed that the doorway of our common bathroom was a little narrower than the other bathroom (It was not spelled out in black and white but we expected the doorways to be of the same width). Granted, it was technically still wide enough for us to walk through, we reckoned that it was important for the doorway to allow old folks who require walking aids to move through easily, as we may have older folks (or even ourselves next time) using this bathroom in the future. We brought up this issue with Chai Hwa, and she readily made the necessary arrangements to have the doorway widened. We really appreciate her taking the extra mile to make our home ever so slightly more closer to perfection. Another impressionable thing was how she made sure to pay a visit to our neighbour living in the unit below ours to offer them assistance on rectifying any issues that might have arisen due to the major masonry work carried out at our place. We are appreciative of her thoughtfulness and willingness to help. Even after handing over the house, Chai Hwa remains responsive to our requests to rectify the small little issues which we didn’t notice earlier on. Initially I was worried that once we paid up the final component of the bill and signed off the handover form, we would be left to fend for ourselves for any issue we had missed out; but my concerns were unnecessary. Chai Hwa continues to assist us in her top notch after-sales service. In fact, at the point of writing this review, we only just realized one of the AC’s condensation runoff would flow out at a less-than-ideal location. I spoke to Chaihwa about it, and she readily agreed to help make the necessary changes to allow the end of the pvc pipe to be relocated to where the floor trap is. It is totally understandable that issues like this would pop up in a massive overhaul project like ours. To have an ID like Chai Hwa who is always open to discussions and focuses on solving the problems, I couldn’t have asked for more. I will definitely recommend her to anyone I know who’s looking for an ID.

We are in our 50s and after living in the same house for 33 years, we decided it is time to renovate this house to one that is elderly friendly as this will be our retirement home. With that, I am very glad that we have worked with Xyden and Bing from Urban Home Design as renovation can be a very stressful affair! During our meeting with the both of them, there were a lot of discussion and brainstorming. We communicated very well throughout the sessions. They listened and noted down all our needs and requests, continually addressing our concerns. They worked hard with the design and presented the space in the 3D model for our better understanding of how it would look like even before any renovation work had even started. As for the renovation itself, it was a smooth sailing journey. The renovation calendar was given to us with a clear schedule. We were delighted that our house was delivered back to us a couple of weeks ahead of time. Bing always kept us updated with the progress. They were proactive and responsive whenever there was any concern during the renovation. Any faults or defects were promptly rectified upon discovery. We are very pleased with the quality and workmanship from the contractors that they engaged. The cabinets amply fulfilled our needs in storage and extensively utilised the space we have in our house. A huge thank you to both Xyden and Bing for transforming our house into a functional, lovely, retirement home!