103 EAST Architects
2 adjacent semi-detached houses mirrored to mimic each other. The car porch onto the ground floor opens into an expansive area, with a stair on the side that leads to the main house on the second storey. The roof of the car porch becomes a front yard for the living area for entertaining guests or play.
The facade has been designed with a metal cladding to frame the spaces of the house within. The roof has been designed in the same material to create the same design language.
These conserved shophouses are nestled right in the heart of the Chinatown Historic District. Overtime, the facade needs to undergo maintenance such as repairing of the intricate motifs and repainting.
Owners need to be careful when doing maintenance as URA Conservation approval is required before any works are carried out. Special mineral paints also have to be used instead of the usual emulsion paints.
An existing 2 storey conservation shophouse, the front has been restored to it’s former glory with timber windows and coloured glass. The rear is rebuilt to 3 storeys with an attic to maximise the potential of the site.
The rear facade is treated with small openings to allow more ventilation while retaining privacy in the bathrooms. It also allows beams of light to shine through like stars in the evenings blurring the building facade and the night sky.
A corner terrace with a large garden. The house has undergone a sensitive additions and alterations to modernise the facade design while still looking in harmony with the neighbours. The rear and side has been extended to increase the floor area to meet the owner’s requirements.
With a large accessible car porch roof terrace which extends to the side and rear of the house, future maintenance of the house is easy and lower in cost for example repainting. It is further reduced with the new metal pitched roof wrapping down to this roof terrace while creating a strong architectural identity.
A corner terrace with careful additions and alterations done to modernise it leaving no trace of it’s 8o’s past.
The outcome looks like a new erection but without the bulky household shelter. Upon stepping into the house, the first level is open and airy connecting to the side garden with large sliding doors and huge overhangs for weather protection.
The 2nd storey comprises the master bedroom and 3 common rooms for the owner’s children. The architecture is a complete opposite from the 1st storey as a solid form encloses this level providing privacy and protection to the sanctuary of the bedrooms.