House – 37 One Tree Hill - Architecture sight

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Award-winning project at- SIA ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AWARDS 2023

Project: 37 One Tree Hill

Architect: Ipli Architects

Project Architect: Ar Yip Yuen Hong

Project Team: Dora Paramita Tedjosiowojo, Suphatta Low

Photography: Khoo Guo Jie

The architect wants to create an introverted house with spatial interest meandering around a sculptural circular staircase with courtyards and patios, allowing rooms to open fully to sheltered outdoor spaces in the seemingly enclosed facade in response to a densely built site context. Located in the densely built residential area of One Tree Hill with neighbours in close proximity, the owner feels strongly about the need for privacy in this project. The intervention is then to create an introverted house with points of spatial interests within a monolithic envelope.

A staircase that journeys through internal courtyards at multiple levels becomes the main point of interest for this house. To suit the aged owner’s need for shallower steps, the distance the staircase took to reach three floors presented an opportunity to design it in a sculptural circular form, expressed in the beauty of off-form concrete. The stairwell is crowned with a skylight using a screen layer, cutting down the solar gain and providing an interesting play of light and shadow as time flows by throughout the day.

Sitting on an east-west orientation, a triple volume courtyard at the rear buffers the living spaces and help to cool the house from the western sun while the eastern frontage is planted with a lush landscape, Appropriate positioning of courtyards within the house allows the interior spaces to open fully to sheltered patios, bringing natural daylight and cross ventilation to the rooms. On the ground floor, patios become an intermediary connecting the interior to the exterior, allowing a seamless enjoyment of the surrounding gardens under the shield of the envelope.

To enhance the spatial experience, the design seeks to pursue the charms of craftsmanship and tactility through materials such as hand moulded bricks and board-formed concrete. The reddish-brown brick facade extends into the interior spaces, and together with natural timber, granite and slate, it awash the living spaces with a warm, homely hue.

Jury Citation:This house presents a well-orchestrated material palette with a strong emphasis on craftsmanship and tactilityWithin its reddish-brown brick monolith envelope, the internal space is anchored by a meandering off-form concrete staircase that forms a sculptural centrepiece leading one gently through the three floors of the home.The Jury commends the team for their resolve in creating an inward-looking space that boldly challenges the orthodoxy of what defines a home.

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