A Japanese-inspired home with a personal touch 

MOVING to Singapore from Shanghai, Sonny Hu and Gladys Lin wanted a home that would reflect their new chapter in life – one of permanence, assurance and tranquillity. It follows their previous chapter – a period of transience and adventure – when they spent nine years working in the Chinese city. During their time there, they had gotten used to living in rented micro apartments and learned to live with less, although it wasn’t quite their preferred lifestyle.

A Canadian and Singaporean respectively, Hu and Lin have now sunk their roots in Singapore with the purchase of a four-bedroom apartment in the east that’s big enough to meet all their needs.

 “For instance, Gladys loves to cook but the kitchen in their last (Shanghai) apartment was only four steps wide,” says Dennis Cheok, founder of UPSTRS, the design company the couple engaged to design their home.