HDB to offer new open-concept flats in Kallang-Whampoa

Option without partitions allows buyers to customise home according to needs

- Isabelle Liew

Home seekers will soon have the option of a new type of Housing Board flat without partitions and beams, which creates an openconcept living and bedroom space.

These "white flats" will be piloted in a Build-To-Order (BTO) project in Kallang-Whampoa that will be launched in October, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee on May 27.

HDB said on May 27 that this layout offers home owners a white canvas so they can design and personalise the flat based on their needs and preferences.

The project will include 80 three-room units and 230 fourroom flats on a site near Lavender MRT station that is bounded by North Bridge Road and Crawford Street.

In his speech to junior college and other pre-university students at the Pre-University Seminar, held at Ho Bee Auditorium in the National University of Singapore, Mr Lee said this flat type may appeal to couples who wish to have an open-concept home for young children to run around and play in, without having to remove walls.

"At a later life stage, when the kids become older, the couple can then choose to reconfigure the flat based on their new needs, such as creating bedrooms or redesigning their living spaces," he said.

Mr Lee said young Singaporeans gave feedback during the Forward Singapore exercise that they wanted more flexibility to configure the spaces in their homes based on their needs at different life stages.

"We took this idea back, and worked with our architects and engineers to see what we could do," he said.