Modern Family Retreat

This four-storey home in Singapore’s Paya Lebar neighbourhood boasts a brick interior for warmth and cosiness and private spaces for quiet relaxation.

- Sasha Gonzales

Located along Jalan Kelichap in Singapore, this intermediate terrace house is home to a young family of four, and features a series of inward-looking spaces of retreat. Designed by Hier Architects, a multi-disciplinary design firm helmed by husband-and-wife team Kelvin Lim and Lee Peishyun, the house offers privacy and cosiness while maintaining a sense of roominess, and includes areas for the owners and their two school-going children to relax in.

Kelichap, the name of the street that the house is on, is the Malay reference for a type of sunbird that is often sighted in the area. Lim drew inspiration from it when designing the property, saying that he “envisioned an intimate family home nestled among greenery and birdsong”.

privacy matters

The brief from the owners was straightforward: they wanted three bedrooms and were keen on a brick interior.

“The father of the family had lived in the United States for some time; he recalled the warmth and cosiness of places with a brick interior and wanted to create a similar effect in his home,” Lim notes.

Maintaining a sense of privacy was also important for the owner, so Lim designed a series of inward-looking spaces, one of which was the rear courtyard.

He explains: “The front lawn of the rear neighbour’s plot sits on elevated terrain one storey higher, giving rise to its very high walls (a mix of retaining walls and boundary walls) as well as a private rear setback area which we felt would be ideal for a courtyard.”

Lim therefore reorientated the design of the house to the rear, which also made sense, seeing as a busy eight-lane road (Upper Paya Lebar Road) runs a short distance away from the front of the property.