Studio Envelope

House at Poh Huat Road

House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects

HOUSE AT POH HUAT ROAD

Envelope Architects

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Chin Kean Kok

QUANTITY SURVEYOR
K H Lim Quantity Surveyors

MAIN CONTRACTOR
Olivetree Builders Pte Ltd

INTERIOR
The Design Practice Pte Ltd

AREA
361.0 sqm

YEAR
2015

LOCATION
Singapore

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

Envelope Architects turned this unusual request into the creative compass to guide the architectural language of the scheme. 

Key to one’s experience in Santorini is the seamless outdoor space, and the organic streets and layout of buildings.

House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects
House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects
House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects

Hence, the scheme not only has to bring the outside in but also create a controlled disorder in the tight space.

To do so while fulfilling the various conditions of the brief, the design integrates several design strategies such as a central courtyard and dissociated volumes.

House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects
House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects

By inserting a central void the design creates a light well that enables the creation of internal facades, allowing the architects to express a series of deliberately misaligned volumes that peer into this central courtyard.

The design also makes use of oblique walls to enhance the illusion of entropy within a confined space.

House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects
House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects
House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects

The oblique, as opposed to a straightforward recess, is a compromise between achieving a crucial visual effect and usable space.

The strategy of dissociation is similarly applied vertically, creating deliberate level changes that are experienced as part of the circulation in the house, contributing to the overall formal diversity.


House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects
House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects
House at Poh Huat Road
Courtesy of Envelope Architects


House at Poh Huat Road
First Floor Plan
House at Poh Huat Road
Second Floor Plan
House at Poh Huat Road
Third Floor Plan
House at Poh Huat Road
Attic Floor Plan


House at Poh Huat Road
Section

Studio Envelope
T +65 6226 3837
Studio Envelope
No.1 Chang Charn Road, Oc Building, #04-02,159630, Singapore