Here are the seven stunning homes in Singapore that are in the running for the title of Best Open-Plan Concept at LBDA 2019. Find out which will take home the top honours at the LBDA Gala Night on Thursday 5 December.
17 October 2019
We’re thrilled to present the seven residences that are in the running to be named “Best open-Plan Concept” at Lookbox Design Awards (LBDA) 2019.
These are the projects that our esteemed panel of regional judges have picked as some of Singapore’s most beautiful open living spaces.
Find out which will take home the top honours at the LBDA Gala Night on Thursday 5 December. Book your tickets here!
Project type: 4-room HDB BTO flat
Firm: ASOLIDPLAN
The design intent sought to address the needs for live, work and play for a young family who runs an online business and with plans on further expanding their household. This called for a flexible interior that can be transformed on demand. All unnecesaary walls have been taken down in favour of operable partitions that can be neatly concealed when not in use. The partitions enable the transformation of the space into a private work area, a children’s play area, an entertainment area for family and friends or a guest bedroom. Curves were used liberally to soften the living space, and to improve flow and movement.
Project type: 3-room HDB flat
Firm: MONOCOT
The owner wanted a retro-inspired home, and the designers have sought to preserve as many existing elements of the 38-year-old flat as possible, including the terrazzo, the main gate, and the louvred windows, along with new interior constructions rendered in concrete, plywood, stainless steel and wired glass. As the flat is only 969sqft, the designers have created free-flowing, open-plan spaces that segue into one another, transitioning only subtly as the flooring changes from terrazzo (living room) to concrete (dining and kitchen area). The combined dining table and cooking unit stands anchor as a central island. Pheripheral spaces are maximised, with the kitchen unit and bookcase sharing a long wall. Only one bedroom has been retained and wired glass (paired with blinds) allows it to be enclosed while still letting light in.
See full home feature here
Project type: 2-bedroom apartment
Firm: UPSTAIRS_
This apartment had an irregularly shaped living room and a 7-metre-high double volume ceiling. The rooms were immensely compact and isolated, and the designers were tasked by the newly-wed owners to completely remodel the flow of the spaces to encompass larger, open spaces for entertaining, cooking, rest and so forth, and to design solutions that would enable limited space to serve a multitude of functions, all without clear delineation of boundaries or walls. The open-plan, double-volume social space – now anchored by a kitchen island that also serves as a dining counter and bar – is surrounded by spaces for lounging and gathering; the entertainment console doubles as a bench for spill-over guests; and an elevated loft, cladded in perforated steel mesh, floats above the main living space.
See full home feature here.
Project type: 3-bedroom condo
Firm: Joey Khu ID
The designer has turned an apartment with an uninspiring and enclosed layout into a relaxed and minimalist home for a bachelor. Colour, form, texture, scale, as well as the flow and function of the different spaces have all been carefully considered to ensure that the elements work holistically together, and to achieve a design that is unstructured and unexpected. Most of the non-structural walls were removed and the space re-divided into a bigger living/entertaining hall, and a dining zone with an open-concept kitchen. The entrance to the master bedroom has also been enlarged to accommodate a customised artwork sliding door.
Project type: 5-room resale HDB flat
Firm: UPSTAIRS_
This 40-year-old flat was in its original state when a family of three bought it over. It had three bedrooms, an enclosed kitchen and an awkwardly planned public space. The family’s first instinct was to tear down all the walls and reimagine new ways of inhabiting its spaces. Key design moves included adjustments (expansion and reduction) of each room’s footprint, and the introduction of sliding walls that allow the rooms to be opened or closed off in various configurations, depending on need. The hallway (deemed an inefficient space) was removed and converted into the “Commons” – a void space located at the heart of the apartment’s footprint, and serving as a shared communal space that functions as a physical and visual extension of the “rooms” and pockets of spaces surrounding it. Different levels of privacy can also be achieved via layers of curtains and frosted wire-glass sliding doors.
Project type: 4-room resale HDB flat
Firm: Craftsmen Studio
The programmatic planning of space was key in defining an open-plan concept that provided flexibility of functions, privacy and storage that the owners need. Anchoring the main living space is a custom built eight-seater walnut table with glass legs that lend a sense of lightness and spaciousness to the monochromatic interior. Furniture, vertical screens and sliding panels replace walls and doors to blur the boundaries between spaces, but also cleverly conceals functional elements. A retractable projector screen replaces a static flat screen TV on the feature wall, providing the best solution for the owners to alternate between binge watching Netflix or art appreciation by sliding the panels in opposite direction. The master bedroom is crafted as a big, open space that incorporates the bathroom vanity, walk-in wardrobe cum study and gallery-like corridor that serves as an entrance and a transitional space, which also leads into the yoga room cum guest bedroom too.
Project type: 3-room resale HDB flat
Firm: Sync Interior
Removing as much of the internal walls as possible allowed the designer to incorporate the storage space, bright atmosphere and ventilation that the owners wanted in this small 720sqft unit. With the store room demolished, the long, continuous volume that houses the communal spaces is now able to accommodate a kitchen island, a large dining table and banquette seating with cabinets wrapped around the latter. To carve out more space in the flat, the wall between the children’s bedroom and living area has been replaced with a custom full-height wardobe on one side and a TV console on the other. Two bathrooms have also been combined into a single, larger space that can still be accessed via the master bedroom and kitchen
See the other LBDA 2019 Shortlist
Outstanding HDB Flat
Outstanding Private Apartment
Outstanding Landed Home
Best Space for Entertaining
Best Space for Retreat
Best Small Space Living
Most Dramatic Transformation
Lookbox Design Awards
www.lbda.com.sg
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