Play by play

Architect Chu Yang Keng's family home has been designed as a playpen of sorts. -BT

Geoffrey Eu

Sat, Oct 15, 2011
The Business Times

It's not quite the ultimate children's playhouse but when an entire family home has been designed as a playpen of sorts for youngsters, it ought to come pretty close.

A few years ago, architect Chu Yang Keng bought a 1950s, low-cost intermediate terrace house in the Upper Serangoon area and designed it with the objective of being able to keep an eye on his kids, no matter where they were in the home - that's an impressive example of the paternal instinct at work.

A home designed as a playpen Click on thumbnail to view

Of course, Mr Chu also had the interests of his wife Kai Lai in mind. The design of their two-storey, two-bedroom, 2,400- square-foot home was such that even without a domestic helper in the mix, she could maintain visual contact with her daughters Weiqi, four, and more recently Minwen, 10 months, while pottering around and doing household chores.

In addition to the practical issues, Mr Chu also wanted his children to be actively engaged with nature so - with the help of a central courtyard and a retractable roof - he bathed the main parts of the house in natural light and brought nature into the equation. As a result, garden greenery can be found in front of, behind, alongside, and inside the house.

The original building was a three-bedroom house at the back of the plot, with a driveway that was longer than usual - a feature that suited Mr Chu's requirements well.

He shortened the driveway, added a loftlike pavilion with glass walls on three sides near the front, and installed a courtyard between the original house and the newer space, which is linked to the main building by a bridge on the upper floor.

Additionally, the courtyard section has a retractable metal roof, which operates like a horizontal garage door and, when closed, allows for the entire home to be covered, but can also be opened to take advantage of cooler weather - kind of like a convertible with a hardtop.

Customising a home to accommodate the specific needs of its inhabitants turned out to be a pretty good idea as well as an interesting project to implement, and the local design community appears to agree.

Mr Chu's home is one of the stops on this year's ArchiTours, a popular component of the local architecture festival Archifest (www.archifest.sg), which aims to promote good Singapore architecture to the public.

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The annual festival, now in its fifth year, is currently taking place and the Chu house is scheduled to be visited by registered participants on Oct 22.

Those that make the visit will first encounter a landscaped car porch, nicely shaded by plants as well as a metal roof overhang. They will enter the annex block into the living area, which is characterised by a small mezzanine with a reinforced glass floor where Mr Chu keeps an electronic drum set and electric keyboard - it resembles a performance space of sorts but he claims to be only a budding musician at best.

The best thing about the glass floor of course, is that it allows for a clear view to other parts of the house and helps to give a transparent quality to the space.

The living room leads to the garden courtyard, which can also be accessed by an outdoor spiral staircase from the music area.

Not surprisingly, this is probably where the family spends plenty of quality time - weather permitting, that is.

Even with the retractable roof deployed, the area is susceptible to heavy rain. With creepers and children's swings suspended from the link bridge on one side and a wall of ferns and plants on another, this charming space - small though it may be - is what best defines the house.

Beyond is the original building, which has been converted to hold a Western kitchen, an al fresco dining area, and an outdoor cooking space. The illusion of space is given by mirrored walls, while upstairs there is a master bedroom and children's room, plus the bridge linking the building with the living room. The home is bright, airy and inviting - and child-friendly, naturally.