A ‘terrace’ flat shows off flexible open-plan living

AS you walk towards this HDB corner unit, you’re greeted by a reddish-brown door, with a quaint porthole. It’s your first clue that this won’t be your cookie-cutter flat, as you open the door to find an unexpected “patio” setting.

Owner Melvin Keng, 39, principal architect of Kaizen Architecture, says that the entry sequence into the flat was inspired by his childhood home. “During the design process, I asked myself if I could recreate the experience of living in a terrace house – where one walks through a front garden and past sliding glass doors before entering the home.” 

This concept led Keng to carve out some space in the original living room for a wedge-shaped terrace area, which is dedicated to his collection of lush plants. The indoor garden balcony also overlooks serene views of an undulating landscaped slope.

For the front door, Keng wanted a design that could best stand out along the ubiquitous HDB corridor, and also create a sense of whimsy and curiosity for people who first encounter it. Hence, the terracotta door and the porthole that tempts people to peek through even if they can’t see anything.

When Keng bought this 40-year-old corner four-room HDB flat, located on the fringe of Kembangan in the east, the layout was in its original state. Renovation started in late 2020, but it took eight months to be completed, mainly because of pandemic-associated delays. The bachelor moved in, in August 2021.

Designing during the pandemic got him thinking about the future HDB flat or home. “The idea of flexibility and adaptability became paramount, and I wanted to start with a completely open plan devoid of any partition walls. So we removed all the internal walls; and fortunately, there was no intermediate column or existing structure to deal with,” Keng notes.

Another major undertaking was to finish the floor, walls, and ceiling with cement render. “As part of the design experimentation, I wanted to adopt a more sustainable approach. In general, interior renovation in Singapore is fairly unsustainable, so I thought, what if we intentionally use less finishing material; would that not mean that we also use less adhesive and less VOC (volatile organic compounds) emitting compounds? As a result, I stripped away unnecessary tiles and paint on the floors, walls and ceiling, leaving the substrate as the final finish.” 

For a long time, Keng has been inspired by the works of German-American architect Mies Van Der Rohe. “I was fascinated by his 1950s apartment towers in Chicago – he used carpentry to separate spaces within an open-plan apartment. Based on this, I used a single carpentry core located in the centre of my flat to help define and delineate different spaces.”  He built a full-height cabinet in the middle of the flat as a central organising core. From there it extends to the dining room, bedroom, walk-in wardrobe and kitchen.

Keng is also a fan of Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. The entrance to the guest bath is a unique oblong form, carved out of the cement render wall. “When I was in France on a Le Corbusier pilgrimage, I saw a door of the exact form used as a lavatory door while visiting a unit in the Unite d’Habitation.” The Unite d’Habitation is the name of a modernist residential housing design principle developed by Le Corbusier, which can be seen in places such as Marseilles, France. 

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“Other than the entrance to the guest bath, you can also catch hints of my inspiration from Corbusier’s works through the quirky use of pop colours against neutral tones (terracotta or orange accents) and unorthodox detailing (the steel pipe that supports the cantilevered counter in the kitchen),” he adds. As for the dining area, Keng says: “Growing up, I always believed that the best memories and connections are made during mealtimes; it became important to me to design for that to happen within the home. So I have the dining island in a central location.”

He refers to his dining table as his “dining island” because of its sheer 3 m length. Custom-designed to seat 12 people, it is made of natural plywood and topped with a Verdi Alpi (green marble) from local stone company, KStone. “There’s also a built-in cylindrical planter at the end of the table, as I like the idea that a table can be more than that – it can also be a planter of sorts.” Just above the dining table is a custom-designed and built pendant lamp. 

As a co-owner of local furniture label, Kernel Furniture, Keng added a couple of Ishinomaki stools and benches as well as Kernel+ stools to complete the dining experience. “The lightly coloured pine timber of the stools and benches pair well with the natural plywood and provide an interesting contrast with the green marble,” he adds.

Because of his busy schedule, Keng cooks only during major festive holidays. “As the kitchen is not very large, I had to be very efficient in the planning, so that we could utilise every space and corner. It is a fully functional kitchen with built-in oven, dishwasher, gas hob and hood.”

Keng was not keen on top-hung storage cabinets above the counters as it makes the kitchen look cluttered. So he opted to design open shelving above the counters with indirect lighting. “Open shelving forces you to be neat, tidy, and intentional about what gets displayed on them. The overall effect I’ve been told looks like a cocktail bar,” he says.

Keng believes that it is important to characterise your home with all your passions and life collections. “That’s why my home is more than just a place of respite. It is a place that says everything you need to know about me.”