FORGING A Sense of Place

Karina Tham and Darius Sit embrace delightful tropical architecture, sustainable living and joyful family life in their first family home-a treasure designed by Ernesto Bedmar.

- LUO JINGMEI

The best architects know the importance of light and how to harness it. In Southeast Asia, this is tied to a sense of comfort; a dexterous handling of light and its counterpart shadow can combat the uncomfortable heat and glare of the tropics, letting inhabitants linger longer in spaces and live their daily routines with ease.

In this house designed by Singapore-based Argentinian architect Ernesto Bedmar, the interplay of light and shadow animates ambles through the home. Multifarious delights are experienced viscerally: canopies tuck the living room in cocooning shadow, stone walls in the gardens are softened with dappled light from tree foliage, and a trellised skylight running the length of the house sieves out heat while giving subtle cues of weather temperaments through the day, such as the patter of raindrops on glass when it rains.

This staging of nature, time and place forms the backdrop to Karina Tham's everyday life. She lives here with her husband Darius Sit, her two-year-old daughter Sena and infant son Soren. There is also Ando, the spirited Shiba Inu that makes known his place in the home with resounding barks as I make my way in.

Having moved into the home only two months into this interview, the family is still discovering the house's quirks and wonders. "This is our first family home as we were living with my in-laws for the past 10 years, so it's quite exciting," says Tham. She and Sit, the founder of digital asset trading company QCP Capital, met at an industry event when she was working in fashion and lifestyle public relations. An English literature graduate, Tham now works in corporate communications on a contract basis to spend precious time with her children.