Fresh Traditions

Reviving existing design elements with modern innovations, this resale landed house is a celebration of old meets new

- Disa Tan

When the D’Marvel Scale designers first arrived on site, they were concerned by how little daylight this terraced house received. Design Principal Derrick Lim says, “The floor plan is quite elongated and with a staircase in the middle, the light path was blocked by several obstacles.” This lack of light culminated in a brief to open up space which ensures a fluid light flow. Since the house is more than two decades old, the team was also tasked to modernize the home and to make it more liveable for the family of three living here.

Plenty of re-configuration work was required to open up the light path on level one, where the communal zones resided. Recognizing that the enclosed stairwell was one of the main obstacles that hindered the light flow, the designers removed the boxed up staircase and changed the entire setup to something open. This clears up the entire light orientation and it now streams smoothly from the foyer to the kitchen. They also changed the sliding door of the foyer into bi-fold doors. Derrick explains, “When drawn to the side, the bi-fold doors create a larger opening as opposed to the old sliding door, and this lets in a lot more light.”