HDB balcony: Amazing ideas for different flat types

Text by Janice Seow

HDB flats with balconies are rather rare. This feature is more often found in older resale flats and larger five-room units, executive apartments and maisonettes, though you can also find smaller units in select developments that have one (mostly in the OCR districts).

With the pandemic and the impact of isolation comes a growing desire to enjoy more of the outdoors while at home, and it’s therefore not surprising that the balcony has become an increasingly coveted feature.

Whether you are looking to purchase a flat with a balcony, or seeking ideas to create a balcony space from scratch, here are some cool and novel balcony ideas worth checking out.

#1 Building a balcony from nothing in a four-room flat

Carving out a balcony where there is none may be a rather rare move in a flat, given the value placed on functional space in Singapore where compact housing is the norm. In this case however, not only is the four-room flat in Bedok ample space for one, it also fits in with the kind of experience that architect Melvin Keng of Kaizen Architecture wishes to enjoy at home.

Melvin has designed an internal garden veranda/balcony in the living space that references his childhood days of living in a terrace house. Timber framed sliding doors subtly separate this newly formed veranda/balcony from the ‘interior’, and even the way the doors are positioned is carefully calibrated. Melvin explains, “They are placed at a slant to augment the perspective of one’s vantage point (as he enters the unit) towards the vista of natural landscaping beyond the unit.”

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#2 An extended balcony in an executive apartment

The owners of this executive apartment in Serangoon wanted everyone in the family to be able to enjoy a balcony space. Giving them just that, the designers from Ethereall have extended the existing balcony that now spans across the living area, study, kid’s room and master bedroom.

This was achieved by reducing the size of the rooms, which in their original state, were comparably more spacious to ones in a standard flat. Not only does this extended balcony now become a place to meet and hang out as a family, it is also a privacy buffer between the rooms and the neighbouring block, and serves as an alternative access to the communal areas and the other rooms.

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#3 A zen-like walkway around a five-room flat

This spacious five-room flat in Bukit Batok enjoys stunning green views. To take advantage of this and bring more natural light and breeze into the home, the designers from D5 Studio Image have not only created a zen-like balcony with a meditative tatami platform, but by demolishing and reconfiguring the rooms, they have extended it to form a walkway that traces the perimeter of the flat. The family now get to enjoy the view out the window as they walk to their rooms. There’s even a bay window seat – a little ‘stop over’ along the way to take a breather.