ODE TO SIMPLICITY

With its pared-back, sensible and outward-focused scheme, this apartment by L Architects is the antithesis of home renovations that do too much.

- LUO JINGMEI

Arcadia is a historical region of Greece, which was the domain of Pan in Greek mythology — the god of rural lands and forests. It was depicted in European Renaissance arts as an unspoilt, breath-taking wilderness. Putting into context the rarity of such bucolic atmospheres in Singapore’s hard-edged concrete jungle, there is something of that association as one drives down the road leading to The Arcadia.

Mature trees lining both sides form an arbour with their thick trunks and leafy foliage, raining filigreed sunlight onto tarmac. Built-in 1983 by Chua Ka Seng, the condominium estate was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. That the local architect also designed Shangri-La’s garden wing is of no surprise, as both projects feature sculptured balconies curtained with plants, as well as tropically attuned architecture favoring natural ventilation and light.

The development’s prescient green ideas makes today’s discussions on biophilic architecture seem old-fashioned — is it not that the groundings of good design should cater to sense and generosity rather than trend? It is with this mindset that Lim Shing Hui approached the design of a three-bedroom apartment in The Arcadia. Both client and architect agreed that it had good bones — large rooms, porous, regular plan — that should be kept, although some tweaks were necessary to freshen the aged apartment.