Location:
Orchard Bel-Air, Singapore

Area:
298 m² / 3208 ft²

Completion:
February 2020

One of the main requirements for this apartment along Orchard Boulevard is simply to convert the existing four bedrooms into two, plus one guestroom. With around 300 square-meters of space, we journey to discover a new kind of luxury that befits the unit and its neighbourhood.

Our design approach to this brief is one of reduction.

We subtracted a corridor to the edge of the apartment to introduce an additional source of daylight. This boulevard of light is lined in fabric that evokes the subtlety of rice-paper, which on closer look reveals its intricate triangular weaves. Concealed doors, guestroom sliding door and fold-down bed disappear into the walls.

The skirting for the new floor tiles at the entry level continues across the lowered living room, as a datum line that accentuates the play of heights in flooring and wall panelling. This composition of undulating lines is echoed in the wall-mounted storage units and suggests a Mondrian-like sense of movement. The strict rectilinearity then contrasts with the radial structural walls on plan to approximate a curved entry-experience to the bedrooms, wardrobe, and make-up areas.

Soft glows in LED highlight the spatial geometry and craft a poetry of lights. If light and space constitute the fundamentals of dwelling, this design certainly dwells on the plentiful luxuries of space and light, creating feelings of vastness in minimalism, because less is always more.

大象无形：新中式以外的“星中式”

这是一间将近三百平米的单位， 位于新加坡（也称星洲）的乌节区豪华地段。屋主在金融界驰骋多年，方才年过五十便决定退休与妻女探求更高质量的生活。放下，是为了走更高更远的路，也为设计的极简性设下了伏笔。

先前的住户累积了大量的摆设，彷佛设计仅是陈设品的堆砌。大楼则建于八十年代，空间宽敞大气，共有四间睡房。单位平面呈半圆形，本可融入“天圆地方”等东方元素，但这类文化符号必须是屋主所熟悉的，否则必不能引起共鸣。屋主虽是华族，身居东西交汇的岛国则与中华传统有着相对的距离，因此如何在不引用现有中华符号的前提下体现东方韵味成了设计的挑战。

在空间划分的层面，若极简设计是放下一切的不必要，剩下的就是光与空间。一条长廊引进了宝贵的阳光，也联系着主人房与女儿的睡房。推拉门与墨菲床让长廊外端替换成客房，收放自如。阳光虽无形，一旦横贯单位却立即提升了空间的质感。

在设计审美的层面，材质的搭配如唐诗用字的精炼。木框与布料即掩饰房门，又装点长廊两岸，远观像宣纸般古朴内敛，近看则显现独特的三角编织纹路，增加了视觉层次。线条的运用从清人王述缙对国画的分析得到灵感：“画之为理，犹之天地古今，一横一竖而已”。客厅较玄关低了两级，这落差先被解构成一横一竖，再让新地砖的踢脚线平行并与之对比。此横线成了依据线，再反差上方的吊灯（竖）与电视柜（横），而纹理漆则以深色的重量统揽横竖，正看凝重深邃，斜看却光影灵动。客厅前墙，后墙，长廊的颜色依次为深，中，浅，用颜色的渐层加持光影的变化，让进屋的体验由暗至明。为客厅与长廊承前启后的是饭厅旁的两面墙，本就参差，还夹带了两幅储物柜，使整个空间宛如一幅蜿蜒的山水长卷。一横一竖框起了带有水墨韵味的荷花油画，且刻意不打灯让花显现于暗影之中。主卧房前的吊灯是玄关吊灯的再变奏，卧房的设计也续写着先暗后明的次序。横，竖，明，暗，极简设计仅用四个音符谱写全曲。

在多元文化的新加坡，“星中式”是星洲华侨的建筑与设计之定位。曾听过一个很有意思的比喻，各族群省思自身的文化就像在不同的地方掘井，挖到深处方知水源都是相连的。这单位的设计不取浅显的文化符号而探寻东方艺术深层的理念，将国画里二维的一横一竖移植到三维的空间，仿佛每一面墙都是一幅立体画，而墙与墙之间又参差错落地遥相呼应着，在极简的设计语言里呼唤隐约的律动感。这样的律动感轻微之极，大音希声，透漏着跨文化的与人性本能的对光与空间的共鸣。

Photography by Studio Periphery