Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

The front facade of this faceted house in Singapore by Formwerkz Architects is interrupted by a shard of tinted glazing.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

Formwerkz Architects were asked to create a family home that retained the owners’ privacy so the building’s public-facing sides are predominantly clad in wood but feature carefully placed apertures.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

During the day the tinted glass reflects its surroundings, but at night a warm glow emanates from inside and permits glimpses of the interior.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

The architects explain that the angular form was chosen to make the most of the small site and increase the space available for the garden: “The sloping walls at the corners allow for a smaller footprint while expanding the spatial volume at upper levels.”

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

A glazed entranceway dissects the building and separates the main living and dining spaces on either side.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

At the rear, the house opens up as large windows and terraces look out onto a sunken garden and a lap pool surrounded by trees.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

A twisting staircase connecting the three floors has an oak-clad handrail on one side to restrict views from the street, while glass is used for the side looking onto the interior.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

Previous projects by Formwerkz Architects include a house with a courtyard shielded by a perforated concrete wall and another with an elevated garden that shelters two bedrooms underneath.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

Other faceted homes we’ve published recently include a house in Italy with sections that jut out to fit its sloping site and a pair of tapered additions to a nineteenth century house in London.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

See more Formwerkz Architects »
See more Singapore »

The architects sent us the following project description:


Diamond House

The house along Cove Drive in Sentosa sits on a slightly tapered site that faced a man-made lake. Built for a small family that greatly cherish their privacy, the house turns it back on the street and the sides where the neighbours are in close proximity.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

Like a monolith resting over the gardens, the single, faceted volume house the main spaces with their primary view to the waterway.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

The main entrance brings one into the centre of the house with the living and dining space on the sides.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects

The upper floors are split in the middle into two volumes that house the daughter and the parent’s bedrooms.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
Basement plan – click for larger image

The basement accommodate the guest room, entertainment, services and garage, lit and ventilated largely by the sunken courtyards.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
Ground floor plan – click for larger image

The massing on grade is kept deliberately small to create more garden spaces within the tight site.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
First floor plan – click for larger image

The geometry is derived from negotiating with the planning parameters imposed on the neighbourhood and the desire to simplify the building form.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
Attic plan – click for larger image

The front and side facades are pared down with openings strategically position to allow optimal daylighting with minimum compromise in privacy.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
Section – click for larger image

The sloping walls at the corners allow for a smaller footprint while expanding the spatial volume at upper levels.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
Front elevation – click for larger image

Like its simple form, few architectural materials were used. The facades are entirely wrapped in iron wood. The interior adopts a lighter palette of oak and travertine.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
Side elevation – click for larger image

At nightfall, fragments of the internal spaces are seen on the facade.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
Rear elevation – click for larger image

The muted, impenetrable volume gradually gives way to the volumes of internal light, revealing the intricacy within.

Diamond House by Formwerkz Architects
Rear elevation – click for larger image

Site Area – 6000 Sqft
Gross Floor Area – 5000 sqft
Completion – Jan 2012

Architect – Formwerkz Architects
Team – Alan Tay , Foo Yuet Yee, Cai Xun
Structure – Portwood & Associates
M&E – PCA
Builder – Sinwah-Apac Construction Pte Ltd

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Formwerkz Architects
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Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

A perforated concrete wall screens the courtyard of this Singapore house by Formwerkz Architects from low sun and prying neighbours (+ slideshow).

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

Formwerkz Architects punctured the concrete wall joining the house’s two blocks with a pattern of holes that looks like inverted braille.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

“The perforated concrete wall allows for air-flow and glimpses of the garden beyond but shields the western sun and its adjacent neighbours,” said the architects.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

The blocks sit either side of a pool in a central courtyard and have gardens to the front and rear, a layout modelled on a northern Chinese typology but adapted for the tropical climate.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

“Similar to the traditional courtyard typology, the inner core is a private, secure and well-ventilated outdoor space intended as an extension of the family space,” the architects said.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

From street level the house is approached via a flight of stairs that lead up to a decked terrace, which sits on top of a garage next to the staff quarters in the basement.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

The ground floor is tiled with travertine both outside and in, divided by the central pool that separates a living area on one side and a dining room and kitchen on the other.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

Upper storeys overhang these spaces, protecting them from rain to remove the need for walls that would face the interior.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

A spiral staircase leads up to a series of bedrooms, studies and bathrooms on both sides, connected by a balcony that circles the courtyard partly indoors and partly out. This walkway breaches the concrete walls so the residents can amble above the jungle-like garden.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects

Rooms on the first floor are screened with wooden strips, used either vertically or criss-crossed. A large bathroom, library and outdoor seating area take up the top floor.

Formwerkz Architects has also designed a house with bedrooms sheltered under a long canopy and a couple of the studio’s projects have been shortlisted for World Building of the Year 2013.

See more residential architecture »
See more architecture and design in Singapore »

The architects sent us the following information:


The Courtyard House

The courtyard house is located in a three-storey mixed-landed residential district, on the eastern part of Singapore. Built for a multi-generational family who seeks a communal way of living but wanted a space that are private, screened from the prying eyes of surrounding neighbours.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects
Ground floor plan – click for larger image and key

While inspired by the Si He Yuan courtyard house, the project seeks to readapt the vernacular typology found in the northern regions of China, to a detached house typology in an urbanised tropical context.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects
First floor plan – click for larger image and key

The massing, comprising of two blocks in a north-south orientation, delineate the site with a front garden, the central courtyard where all the rooms looked into and a back garden. The public and private realms are layered in a spatial procession from the street. Circulation within the house circumambulate the courtyard on all floors.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects
Second floor plan – click for larger image

The main spaces are organised around this central, outdoor atrium where a lap pool runs parallel to one edge. The ground floor is finished entirely in hone travertine without any drops to blur the boundaries between indoor and outdoor, unifying the entire ground floor as a singular, seamless, communal space. The perforated concrete wall allows for air-flow and glimpses of the garden beyond but shields the western sun and its adjacent neighbours.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects
Cross section – click for larger image

The house expresses the relationship between periphery and core. Similar to the traditional courtyard typology, the inner core is a private, secure and well-ventilated outdoor space intended as an extension of the family space. While the periphery is surrounded in dense tropical foliage, the courtyard is tranquil and contemplative.

Courtyard House by Formwerkz Architects
Long section – click for larger image

Through a series of spatial appendixes of bridges, wall perforations, pool extensions, shower stalls, stairs and bay windows that penetrate the two side walls that bound the inner sanctum, the residents gets to experience the tropical garden on the periphery.

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Formwerkz Architects
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Learning Hub at Nanyang Technology University by Thomas Heatherwick

UK designer Thomas Heatherwick has released images of a technology education building under construction at Nanyang Technology University in Singapore.

Learning Hub by Heatherwick

Resembling a cluster of elongated bee hives, the Learning Hub at Nanyang Technology University explores new ways of teaching at a time when computers and the internet are challenging the rationale of learning institutions.

Learning Hub by Heatherwick

“Before, the university was the place you would come to because it had the computers, or the university was the place that you would come to because it had the books,” said Heatherwick, explaining the concept of the building in a keynote speech at World Architecture Festival in Singapore last year. “And now, you can just stay in your bedroom with your [iPhone] and get your PhD and deal with the different professors – and so what is the purpose of a university building anymore?”

In response, the university wanted to dissolve the traditional relationship between the tutor and the student, to encourage a new kind of collaborative studying. “They no longer want the model of a master at the front of the class,” said Heatherwick in his lecture. “[That] is something that they want to move away from completely.”

The building consists of several 8-storey towers containing stacks of tutorial rooms, but avoids using traditional circulation and room layouts. The rooms are corner-less, to dissolve the standard classroom hierarchy where the tutor is at the front and the students all face towards him or her.

Instead of corridors, each level features open galleries where students can circulate and meet. And instead of a conventional entrance, the building is porous at ground level, meaning people can approach and enter from any direction.

“So the building has no one door, it’s all porous,” said Heatherwick. “You can just walk into one big shared space that links the whole thing together.”

Nanyang Technology University was masterplanned by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange in the 1980s and features buildings set in lush gardens. Heatherwick’s design reflects this by placing plants and trees on the roof and on some of the circulation levels.

Images are courtesy of Heatherwick Studio. Here’s more information from the studio:


Heatherwick studio has won a competition to design a Learning Hub for a university in Singapore. The hub will be part of a £360 million scheme which Nanyang Technological University is undertaking, and is the first redevelopment of its campus’ in twenty years.

It was clear to us that since the advent of the internet and low cost computers that there has been a distinct shift in how students approach educational facilities. University buildings have ceased to be the only site where students are able to source educational texts, and have become unappealing spaces with endless corridors, no natural daylight and only hints of other people’s presence.

The studio’s approach was to redefine the aspiration of a university building, and to once again make it an essential part of the tertiary education experience. Within this new context the purpose of a university is to foster togetherness and sociability, so that students can meet their fellow entrepreneurs, scientists or colleagues in a space that encourages collaboration.

The hub’s form is dictated by its function, and brings together 55 tutorial rooms into a structure without conventional corridors, which have traditionally created social separation and isolation. The learning hub has no one door, it is porous. Students can enter from 360 degrees around into a large central space which links all the separate towers together. Each tower is made up of a stack of classrooms which build up gradually, with gardens on selected floors.

Another inspiration for the hub was a wish to break down the traditional square forward-facing classrooms with a clear front and hierarchy, and move to a corner-less space, where teachers and students mix on a more equal basis.

In this model, students work together around shared tables, with teacher as facilitator and partner in the voyage of learning, rather than ‘master’ executing a top-down model of pedagogy.

Each of these tutorial rooms faces the large shared central space, allowing students to continually feel connected to all the other activities going on in the building.

In 2013 the learning hub was awarded the BCA Green Mark Platinum Award for sustainability by the Singaporean government. The award is a benchmarking scheme which incorporates internationally recognised best practices in environmental design and performance.

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by Thomas Heatherwick
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SUTD Library Pavilion by City Form Lab

A library pavilion covered in galvanised steel scales has been constructed next to the Singapore University of Technology and Design (+ slideshow).

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The idea for an outdoor canopy to provide additional space for working and socialising was originally proposed by first year students as part of a competition and was then developed by City Form Lab, an architectural research lab at the university.

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A low-cost gridshell made from 3000 unique plywood panels creates a vaulted form with no internal walls or columns and is clad in 600 hexagonal steel tiles.

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Photograph by City Form Lab

To reduce costs, the architects developed customised software to create components that could be made using simple two-dimensional cutting machines.

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Photograph by City Form Lab

A single drawing and ID numbers engraved on each of the plywood pieces and steel tiles provided a guide for students to assemble the components before local contractors erected the structure on site.

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“We were quite worried that once everything was cut and put together the pieces wouldn’t fit,” Andres Sevtsuk, principal investigator at City Form Lab told Dezeen. “As a pleasant surprise, everything fitted quite well on site. Automating the drawing generation and cutting all elements on computer-controlled machines reduced the human error margins and made the small tolerances possible.”

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Bolts and screws were used to assemble the modules, so the pavilion can be dismantled and recycled when the university moves to a new campus at the end of 2014.

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Photograph by City Form Lab

Last week we published the first pictures of Sou Fujimoto’s cloud-like Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, while an inflatable pavilion based on a twisted ring shape is currently residing in a museum garden in London – see all pavilions

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Daniel Libeskind was in the news last week when he refuted allegations that he received unlawful payments for designing a university building in Germany, while Herzog & de Meuron has been awarded planning permission for a new building at the University of Oxford – see all architecture for education.

Photography is by Philipp Aldrup, except where stated otherwise.

Here’s a project description from the architects:


The library pavilion offers a shaded open-air place to work, meet and mingle for students and staff at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). At night it becomes a place for gatherings, evening lectures and SUTD community events. Work-desks, mobile bookshelves and wireless Internet make it a “third space” between the dormitory and the classroom where intellectual and social exchange occurs in a casual atmosphere.

dezeen_SUTD Library Pavilion_9

The gridshell was built at a low cost using flat plywood members and galvanized steel cladding. There are no columns, beams, or vertical walls to support the roof. The canopy forms a lightweight timber shell that works as a catenary vault. A numeric hanging-chain model was used to determine the precise shape that follows the lines of thrust and works efficiently in compression.

dezeen_SUTD Library Pavilion_10

Unlike steel gridshells, it has no complex three-dimensional joints or beams – all of its elements are strictly cut from flat sheet material. 3,000 unique plywood panels forming 1,000 triangles and 600 unique hexagonal cladding tiles were assembled by SUTD students, and erected on site by the contractor. All components of the canopy were fabricated on CNC machines in Singapore. The assembly of the entire structure required only one drawing – the numeric map of a three-dimensional puzzle indicating which pieces fit next to which other pieces. ID numbers were engraved in the cutting process on each plywood and cladding element, which remain visible in the finished structure as ornament.

The pavilion is designed to be dismantled and recycled after two years.

dezeen_SUTD Library Pavilion_plan
Site plan – click for larger image

Design: City Form Lab
Engineering: ARUP
Construction: Arina International Hogan (AIH) and SUTD students
Sponsorships: AIH builders, Autodesk, ARUP.
Completion: May 2013

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by City Form Lab
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PHUNK + 1956 by Tai Ping Carpets: Singapore-based art and design collective launches a series of carpets inspired by “rule breakers and nonconformists”

PHUNK + 1956 by Tai Ping Carpets


Founded in 1956 to preserve the historical craft of handmade carpets, Hong Kong’s Tai Ping has grown into a global leader in quality carpeting. In recent years the renowned maker of woven Axminster, hand-tufted, machine-tufted, printed carpet and Axminster carpet tile designs introduced…

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Parkroyal Singapore Architecture

Les équipes de Woha Architects ont imaginé à Singapour, l’architecture du dernier hôtel de « Parkroyal » installé au cœur de la ville. Avec un design très réussi, ce lieu incroyable propose près de 15 000 m2 de verdure luxuriante grâce à des jardins auto-alimentés grâce à la récupération de l’eau de pluie.

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SOM to build Singapore’s tallest tower

SOM to build Singapore's tallest tower

News: American firm SOM has unveiled plans to build Singapore’s tallest tower as part of a mixed-use development in the Tanjong Pagar business district.

SOM’s 64-storey, 290-metre tower will be positioned on the eastern part of the Tanjong Pagar Centre site, and will contain offices on its lower floors and luxury apartments above.

A smaller tower alongside it will accommodate a business hotel with its own restaurants and conference centre as well as a pool overlooking the redesigned Tanjong Pagar City Park.

An additional six-storey building will provide a car park, shops, restaurants and entertainment as well as an area for public art and outdoor performances.

SOM is the architectural practice behind the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The firm recently proposed a floating observation deck over Grand Central Station in New York and a tower with triangular facets in Seoul – see all architecture by SOM.

Elsewhere in Singapore,the Gardens by the Bay tropical garden was named World Building of the Year at last year’s World Architecture Festival, where Dezeen filmed an interview with architect Chris Wilkinson about the project – see all architecture in Singapore.

SOM to build Singapore's tallest tower

Here’s some more information from SOM:


Tanjong Pagar Centre
Singapore, Singapore

Positioned as a premier quality business and lifestyle hub, the 1.7-million-gross-square-foot Tanjong Pagar Centre will provide a mix of uses, comprising office, residential, retail and hospitality, in Singapore’s historic Tanjong Pagar central business district. The development will be a significant contribution to the evolving skyline of Singapore and will become a landmark destination, serving as a gateway to the future waterfront city.

The centerpiece of the project will be a re-designed Tanjong Pagar City Park to create unique public spaces that provide activity and open space to visitors. In line with the Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority’s mission to create lively and attractive public places, protected and useful outdoor gathering spaces and sustainable urban environments, Tanjong Pagar Centre will set the standard for sustainable, livable development in Singapore for generations to come.

SOM to build Singapore's tallest tower

Located on the eastern half of the site, the mixed-use office and residential tower will feature Grade-A office space with luxury residential units above. This tower will be the tallest building in Singapore.

The free-standing mid-rise tower to the west will accommodate the luxury business hotel and its amenities, including restaurants, a conference centre, gym and pool deck overlooking the Tanjong Pagar City Park.

The six-storey podium will provide multiple levels of car parking, retail, restaurants, and entertainment, as well as the hotel, office, and residential lobby and amenities level. A large public component includes a “city room” which will feature public art and outdoor performance areas, ground-level retail, and an underground pedestrian network that will connect to the existing MRT station.

Project Completion Year: 2016
Design Completion Year: 2012
Project Area: 1,700,000 sq ft
Number of Stories: 64
Building Height: 290 m

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tallest tower
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Shop stop: P5 in Singapore

P5_front

If you are wondering where to go for the best design furniture in Singapore how about starting right here at P5. Brands like moroso, e15, artek and royal tichelaar makkum all under one (beautiful) roof.

When I walked in I was happily surprised to see  the vases by Hella Jongerius when I mentioned them to the sales person he was impressed that I recognized them and understood I knew a thing or two about design  so we started chatting… Aloyus, no longer the salesperson, but the owner and founder of this shop, is as passionate about furniture as he is about food … hopefully soon he will show me around in town and chat about our love for design. P5's address.

Today I am helping you with a visual tour inside P5

ps. If you can't find it here perhaps wonderful Foundry just 5 minutes away can help you.

[MORE IMAGES]

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Guinness – Made Of More Posters

Alors que la campagne vidéo « Made of More » est nominée dans la catégorie Advertising des Fubiz Awards, voici trois illustrations signées BBDO Proximity Singapour et son directeur artistique Jennyson Rosero montrant le parcours de différents personnages pour arriver au succès. Plus dans la suite.

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Creative People Projects in Singapore

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You know how much I love sites like Coffeeklatch , wheretheycreate and freundevonfreunden so I am delighted to see we have our own Singapore version. 

The Creative People Projects is the eye-candy site from Rebecca Toh, who takes us to studios, ateliers and offices from creative people here in SG and Taiwan.

Rebecca Toh got the idea for this Portrait Project came about when she realized how far away she was from the people she admires. Then she remembered that she has a camera… "and that with a camera one always has the perfect excuse to get closer, to walk into lives, to achieve a form of intimacy that is usually unattainable. I hope this photo project will eventually be a record of some of these moments spent with these wonderful, super-talented people."

Creative People Projects only shows us how much creativity there is on this side of the planet … and that so much more can be expected in the future…

I'm happy to be so close to these people and can't wait to meet some of them in person too. 

Enjoy some of the images here on Bloesem already, but visit the site for all!

Karenpaolo


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All images by Rebecca Toh

..Creative People Projects