Freight Architects LLP

Pyrite House

Pyrite House
© Darren Soh

PYRITE HOUSE

Freight Architects

ARCHITECTS
Freight Architects

LOCATION
Singapore

CATEGORY
Houses

AREA
550.0 m2

PROJECT YEAR
2016

PHOTOGRAPHS
Darren Soh

MANUFACTURERS
Evorich, K&H, Paint 101

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Kee Jing Zhi

BUILDER
K&H Façade Pte Ltd

QUANTITY SURVEYOR
Ian Chng Cost Consultants Pte Ltd

CIVIL/STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
JS Tan & Associates

Text description provided by architect.

Pyrite House is a private residential project, mixing innovative design with structural flexibility to create an inspired living space.

Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh

The brief was to create a space where 3 families could stay together, enjoying the best of communal living while having their own private spaces.

We looked into metaphors of inter-connectedness, and started developing 3 separate volumes enclosing a central, sheltered courtyard that would serve as the heart of the house.

That’s when we came across pyrite crystals, characterised by their intersecting facades. We adopted intersecting / inter-connecting volumes as our formal language in creating the house.

Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh

3 solid prisms are wedged into a central glass block. These 3 prisms are slanted and staggered, with the gaps between the prisms forming corridors and atrium spaces.

The living, dining and kitchen areas can be closed off to form individual, air-conditioned spaces. Once connected, these spaces link with the atrium to form an expansive, communal space.

Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh

Playing with the prismatic forms, the tips of the prisms are folded in to create more depth and cast shadows providing shade.

We were also interested in how the slits between the prisms allow light to penetrate through, creating interesting shapes and patterns in the shadows.

Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh

The corner windows are also specifically positioned in order to catch wind drafts from the south and provide panoramic views.

Voids created at the party wall allow for cross ventilation once all the windows are opened. Blurring of interior and exterior spaces also inform the design of this project.

Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh

With light flooding the central atrium area, the sheltered spaces in between prisms can be experienced as a pseudo-outdoor space.


Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh
Pyrite House
© Darren Soh


Pyrite House
Section 01
Pyrite House
Section 02


Pyrite House
Ground Floor Plan
Pyrite House
Second Floor Plan
Pyrite House
Third Floor Plan

Freight Architects LLP
T +65 6816 2561
Freight Architects LLP
336C King George's Ave, 208572, Singapore