At A Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two teenage children 
Type of home: A four-bedroom penthouse apartment in Sembawang
Size of home: 2,300 sq ft
ID: LATO Architects

For Ai Tiong, reconfiguring the layout took precedence. “With the right function in the right location, the aesthetics will fall right into place,” he firmly believes.

The homeowners originally planned to have the master bedroom-cum-study and their daughter’s bedroom on the first storey, and the living room and their son’s bedroom upstairs.

However, Ai Tiong convinced them to go for a more conventional, practical layout by having the living room and children’s bedrooms downstairs and the master bedroom and study on the second storey where there is more privacy.

Various spaces on the first storey were also shifted around to enhance their functionality. By hacking away the walls, an existing bedroom became the living area. Its location at the end of the apartment allows for a more intimate space.

Timber shelves extend the length of the wall between the dining andliving rooms, displaying the owners’ pottery and wine collection while concealing kinks in the wall.

The dining room was relocated to a double-volume space to create a grander feel when the owners entertain. Connecting the two is a long walkway Ai Tiong conceptualised as a transitional chill-out space with a couple of armchairs and floor-to-ceiling timber shelves that extend the length of the space.

Walls that rise two storeys around the double-volume space are clad in laminate with a marble look. “I always look at the big picture when designing. In this case, the scheme is about the soaring marble-clad walls,” he explains.

Laminates were used because genuine marble would have been too heavy for the double-height walls. To break down the scale of these towering walls, he designed a random pattern comprising laminates of different sizes separated by steel inserts.

“Getting the proportion right took time and effort. The steel inserts also help conceal the joints between the laminate panels,” he points out. Selecting the right walls to cover was also critical.

“If all were clad, the interior would appear too busy. I eventually decided on three walls that provide strategic focal points and pivot the whole scheme very well,” he says.

Midway through the renovations, Ai Tiong discovered that the false ceiling in the master bedroom concealed a pitched roof. He had the contractor remove it and restore the exposed timber rafters. The pitched roof gives the master bedroom a loftiness that makes it feel more like part of a landed home than an apartment.

The low ceiling in the master bathroom was removed and revealed a pitched roof.

The walls behind the headboards in the children’s rooms have arandom pattern that they chose themselves.

The lower band of the rest room wall is finished in white marble while the upper section is timber laminate.

Timber sliding-folding doors take the place of the original walls of the master bedroom, so it’s integrated with the study area.

The renovation costs came to about $300,000, excluding furnishings. The project, which involved major works in terms of reconfiguring the existing layout and replacing all the finishes took a total of seven months – three months for design and documentation, plus four for the renovation. The family moved in in early 2019.

By keeping the interior simple and classy without unnecessary ornamentation, the main concept of soaring marble walls comes through. It also gives clarity to the scheme instead of being just decorative and addresses John and Janet’s preference for a modern, clean design with some distinguishing elements.

Photography Vee Chin
Art direction Kristy Quah

Text: Lynn Tan/Home and Decor

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