From scandal to rebuild: Design concept for redevelopment of Gerald Crescent bungalow in widow cheating case
Plans unveiled for property thrust into the limelight in notorious swindling saga
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[SINGAPORE] A collection of homes featuring three nature-inspired architectural styles will replace the bungalow at the centre of a high profile cheating case involving a widow and a former tour guide.
The new homes to be built at 2F Gerald Crescent will feature a mix of detached and sem-detached houses totalling eight or nine units, with indicative prices starting at S$7 million each.
Located in the Seletar neighbourhood, the property – with a 999-year lease commencing 1879 – was purchased in June last year by local developer Teambuild Properties. Teambuild, which paid S$22 million for the nearly 32,000 square foot site, has appointed design and build entity Kapa Design Co to handle the project.
Eschewing a cookie-cutter approach, Kapa is instead dividing the sprawling property, which is about half the size of a football field, into three thematic sections.
“When we first looked at the site, we explored standard cluster housing layouts,” Benedict Choa, Kapa’s CEO and founder tells The Business Times. “But we quickly realised this unique plot of land deserved something far more thoughtful.”
Cloud, Mist and Forest
The site has a 45-metre frontage and slopes downwards to about one-and-a-half storeys below road level. Given this topography, the concept of journeying through layers of nature – Cloud, Mist and Forest – was born.
The entrance to the estate will be flanked by houses in lighter colour tones – Cloud homes to the left and Mist homes to the right – before encountering Forest homes as one descends the “valley”.
Cloud homes come in organic shapes and are replete with soft curves and protruding eaves, giving a sensuous and ephemeral feel. White is the main colour scheme, which continues in the interiors.
On the other hand, Mist home facades feature angular shapes in white and light silver and grey, and are like beacons when lit at night. Finally, Forest houses are more tropical, expressed via an external cladding of horizontal wood slats interspersed with green terraces.
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While each phase defines an element of a mountain range, together, they are intended to be part of a coherent overall design language. Their boundary walls are also similar, helping to create a private enclave. Yet, each house – which features landscaping inside and out – retains its own identity since no unit is a mirror of another.
Choa says the masterplan was built around multi-generational living, personal wellness and tropical luxury, with a heavy emphasis on how light, greenery and airflow move through each property.
The site’s topography did, however, come with its own set of challenges.
Significant engineering solutions were needed to deal with sunken portions of the land in order to create basements and for structural integration.
Apart from prioritising lush landscaping, light penetration and spaciousness on the ground level, Kapa was also trying to balance maximum privacy with optimal cross-ventilation across the homes.
Sustainability is another element the company wanted to integrate into the homes, which come with rooftop solar panels.
“The homes rely heavily on passive design strategies such as the optimisation of natural daylight, structural shading and cross-ventilation to keep the interiors naturally cool without constant air conditioning,” says Choa.
The project is awaiting approval by the authorities and will be launched in phases from the second quarter of next year once clearance is given. Choa has his sights set on final project completion around the end of 2029.
Property almost lost to swindler
2F Gerald Crescent was at the centre of a well-publicised cheating saga. It belonged to Chung Khin Chun, a retired physiotherapist whose husband, Dr Chou Sip King, died in 2007. Chung was almost cheated of all her assets, including the property, by Chinese national Yang Yin, who acted as her tour guide in China in 2008.
A year after meeting the childless widow, Yang moved into the single-storey Gerald Crescent bungalow, claiming the elderly woman, then 82, wanted him to be her grandson. In 2011, he obtained permanent residency, and moved his wife and two young children to live in the bungalow with him.
He also coaxed Chung to will all her assets – then worth nearly S$40 million, including the bungalow – to him. Chung, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2014, had even applied to grant Yang a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) to manage her financial affairs.
That year, her niece, Hedy Mok, exposed Yang’s exploitation of her aunt and started a series of legal actions to evict him from the bungalow and revoke the LPA and will.
Yang was charged with criminal breach of trust and jailed after pleading guilty to some 120 charges, including falsifying receipts to stay in Singapore to obtain permanent residency.
He was deported in June 2022.
The property was put up for sale twice – at S$35 million in 2018 and S$25 million in 2021 – but failed to attract buyers who could meet the minimum asking price. In October last year, four months after the conclusion of the sale, Chung died, aged 98.
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