PERFECT MATCH

The clients' extensive brief, the placement of existing columns and the age of the flat made this project a challenging one. LYNN TAN finds out how the architect managed to address these requirements and problems to realise the potential of this home.

- LYNN TAN

Banker, Shaun Lee and eatery owner, Andrea Tang viewed 50 properties before purchasing this four-room resale unit at Bukit Purmei Road. The couple knew it was the one because of the Mount Faber views and interestingly, the original, 40-year-old pink marble flooring.

They had some specific requirements in their brief. Apart from retaining the existing pink marble flooring, they wanted an open plan that would maximise natural lighting and cross-ventilation within the long and narrow flat. Other requirements included an enlarged master bedroom with separate sleeping and walk-in wardrobe areas, a bathtub in the master bathroom, a multipurpose guest room that can also double up as a storage, exercise and mahjong area, an enclosed kitchen and a modern Guanyin altar. As Shaun is into pottery, Andrea is an avid reader and the couple loves to host family and friends and have a weakness for shoes and clothes, they also asked for a hosting space that can comfortably accommodate a party of eight, and ample storage for clothes, shoes, books and pottery.

Despite the extensive brief, the couple refrained from prescribing a preferred style or compiling a mood board-something that many of the eight design firms that they met with insisted on. They eventually decided to engage architect, Woon Chung Yen, founder and principal of Metre Architects. "Not only did his proposal meet our requirements most completely and uniquely, but more reassuringly, he appeared genuinely excited about, and inspired by the project," says Shaun.