On the right side of the house, where it rises two storeys, vertical aluminium screens with a wood finish that pivot open stand tall, creating a peek-a-boo effect to the interiors.

Funny enough, once you pass through the main door, you immediately realise how this home is the antithesis of the entrance. The L-shaped building hugs a deliberately undulating lawn and swimming pool, imparting a sense of porosity throughout.

As Allan Tongol, the project lead for RT+Q, explains, “Privacy was very important to the owners, but when it came to the house itself, they also wanted it to be very tropical. Our solution was therefore to make it as open as possible with an abundance of landscaping, natural ventilation, and lighting. To handle the heat, we also used simple techniques like deep overhanging eaves and landscaping.”

The sheltered foyer receiving area just beyond the moon gate offers a good view of the house. A guest room and common areas are situated on the ground floor of the long block, and two bedrooms for the owners’ sons sit on the upper level.

Parallel to it is a timber deck with a canopy that’s 3m deep to prevent the heat and rain from entering the living, dining, and dry kitchen areas. With this, they don’t need to be closed.

At the rear is a family area that flows into the pool, and the master bedroom is stacked above it. All have sliding floor-to-ceiling windows doors for natural ventilation and large, overhanging eaves. Other indoor spaces are the helper’s quarters, a basement car park with a structural pillar painted a cheery, bright yellow, and a man cave adjacent to it.

“The owners did not feel there was a need for too many rooms, so we designed a four-bedroom home” reflects Tongol. Another request was to make the bedrooms for the sons “equal” as a demonstration of parental fairness. As a result, they are both the same size, mirror one another in layout, and can fully open up to blur the boundaries between inside and out.

In addition, the architects used chengal wood to frame the facade, evoking the effect of a timber box “inserted” into the second floor of the long building.

In true RT+Q style, both staircases feature unique and unexpected touches. The first is near the foyer area and connects three floors in a serpentine sweep with a hand-carved chengal wood balustrade, inspired by the one in the Orchard Road Apple store.

“We are famous for formal, structured shapes, so we felt it was time to do something more organic and handmade,” says Tongol. “During the construction of this staircase, our co- founder Rene Tan would tell the worker to make it sexier or softer as he was hand-grinding it. This is currently one of our best staircases in our portfolio.”

The second one, a spiral, is at the rear of the house, where the two blocks intersect. Initially, it appears to be enclosed in a vertical cylinder with gently sloping ends punctuated by square cut-outs that allow light to pass through.

“For this piece, Rene was inspired by a visit to the Sainte Marie de La Tourette building designed by Le Corbusier during one of our company’s trips to Lyon, France. It was really just him being playful and seizing the opportunity to turn the staircase into a sculpture.”

As you ascend the stairs, you can’t miss the elegant, curving ceiling, which looks like the billowing skirt of a pirouetting ballerina.

Beyond this is an edible organic garden requested by the owner’s wife, which is filled with fruits, vegetables, and herbs any domestic goddess would swoon over. It is the last thing you would expect to find at the back of the house, carefully concealed and complementing the basement man cave.

As it should be, greenery dominates the house, expertly used as a privacy screen, but also in the manicured and produce gardens. Yet another pleasant surprise.

“For this piece, Rene was inspired by a visit to the Sainte Marie de La Tourette building designed by Le Corbusier during one of our company’s trips to Lyon, France. It was really just him being playful and seizing the opportunity to turn the staircase into a sculpture.”

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