A House in Three Movements Singapore, RT and Q Architects

‘The house is inspired by music composition. For instance, the composition of the house is divided into three movements, much like a symphony or a sonata. And in order to create a coherent overall composition, a leitmotif, in this case, three recurring spiral staircases, was invented and worked into the spaces of the house.’—Rene Tan

The architect, Rene Tan, was originally trained as a musician, so the musical metaphor should not be surprising. And the metaphor is worth analysing because it tells us a lot about how the house works. First, the movements of a piece of music are each separate and self-contained sections, but put together they form a unified whole. Secondly, a piece of music is also a work of art. Both points are crucial to how this house works, not just as some formal or intellectual idea but as a contemporary tropical house for a family.

The design team who worked with Rene Tan to achieve the success of the house included T.K.Quek, Chua Z.Chain, Joanne Goh and Jesslyn Ang.The existing house on this narrow site had been semi-detached, but a bold decision was taken to set the new house back on both sides. This made the house even narrower than before, but opened up opportunities to draw far more light and air into it. The way this was done was to divide the house into three connected pavilions with each pavilion serving a distinct function. Hence, the front pavilion contains the public spaces— entry and living area on the first floor, a family and music room on the second floor and a roof terrace above. The second pavilion has an audio- visual room and maid’s quarters in the basement, the kitchen and dining room on the first floor and the daughters’ bedrooms, with a loft play space, on the second floor. The third pavilion has a guest bedroom and study on the first floor and the master bedroom with a grand walk-in wardrobe on the second floor.

These three pavilions are each given their own character by the materials used—timber cladding for the first, smooth white plaster for the second and a rough-textured, striated grey concrete finish for the third. The three pavilions are joined by glass bridges and linked through courtyards which serve to separate each pavilion but also maintain visual connection because of the extensive glazing. Then there are the spiral staircases, what Tan calls the leitmotif, weaving its way through the music, an idea which is repeated, but in a slightly different form each time. The pivot to the house is the central staircase that spirals dynamically up from the basement through to the second level. A more delicate iron staircase winds its way up past the green wall in the courtyard off the family/music room to the roof terrace. Then a timber and steel staircase, with open risers, works its way up from the study to the walk-in wardrobe above.

The music room on the second level of the front pavilion with a nicely edited view of the street.

The projection shows the linear organization of the three pavilions.

A perspectival sketch showing the processional organization of the pavilions.

The result of all this is a house of many parts, but all together forming a unity. This is achieved by glazing, including the transparent glass bridges, and by visual connection where from any one space other spaces can be glimpsed. It also means that the house demonstrates another take on the issue of privacy and community. While there are many opportunities for the residents to be private, there is always a sense, because of all the connectivity, that they are together as a family.

The sitting room off the entry to the ground floor front pavilion.

The dining room in the middle pavilion, which leads directly off the front sitting room, has a certain informality to it with its banquette, breakfast bar and direct connection to the outside terrace and pool.

A home, like a relationship, is a refuge. It is a place we return to for security, reassurance and endorsement. But, like a relationship, it should also offer the prospect of renewal. It is nice to be at home, to feel at home, to be somewhere familiar. But we also need to be regularly refreshed and have our perceptions regularly sharpened and reawakened. We need to be taken out of our complacency, away from the taken-for-granted.

This house offers many prospects, but they are all fugitive and ambiguous. Because of the transparency, we see a number of internal vistas layered over one another. We see the orthogonal structure of the house up against the curvilinear staircases. We see reflections in the glass and in mirrors. When we walk across the glass bridges, we have that fleeting moment of uncertainty as we look down through the glass to a lower level.

It is in these ways that the house becomes a work of art, heightening our awareness of where we are, why we are here and what we are doing here.

While this is most definitely a sustainable house in respect of its natural light, its cross-ventilation and its use of greenery and water to help cool the house, it is, like a work of art, emotionally and socially sustaining in the way it is constantly heightening awareness and refreshing the perceptions. It sustains a family by providing both private and communal amenity, but also by constantly reminding the residents of the value of what they have.