Life among Leaves

Sky Pool House is hidden among its landscaping, just the way the owner wants it.

- LOW SHI PING

The home’s location in the middle of a residential neighbourhood is the only indication that it is a dwelling and not a park. The landscaping is so luxuriant that the building is barely visible. Guz Architects, whose principal, Guz Wilkinson, is the undisputed leader in camouflaging homes among greenery, designed the project.

It helps that Sky Pool House is a good-class bungalow with a land area of more than 1,500sqm. The owners didn’t need Wilkinson to maximise coverage, despite the house housing multiple generations. “They liked our designs and the idea of gardens on every floor,” says Wilkinson.

BLUE AND GREEN

The owners specifically requested for a gym in the attic and a lap pool beyond it. Indeed, it set the project apart from other “Guz houses”, as the design industry likes to call them. More than 22m long on the house’s highest level, it has an 8m transparent panel in the middle of the floor that serves as a skylight. When the sun is at its peak, the space below the pool is naturally lit to stunning effect.

According to Wilkinson, “The house is backed up against a big retaining wall, so it was originally quite dark. We used the skylight to better illuminate the interiors and make them more interesting.”