With a gift for space planning, Lawrence Puah of Akihaus Design Studio completely transforms a three-bedroom apartment into a highly elegant space with all the creature comforts of home.
31 October 2017
Home Type: 3-bedroom condo unit
Floor Area: 1,770sqft
Text by Lookbox Living
Like all of his projects, Lawrence Puah of Akihaus Design Studio approached the design of this 36-year-old apartment with thoughtful consideration for how his clients would feel in the space. Emphasis was placed on the apartment’s location; situated in the idyllic Arcadia Road estate within Singapore’s central catchment area, the apartment was surrounded by lovely greenery, which Lawrence was determined to bring as much of indoors.
“While the original living spaces opened out fully with a balcony looking out to the greens on one side, its adjacent utility areas were closed off to the other side with a weird configuration of kitchen, WC, yard and storeroom blocking off the light and natural ventilation,” the designer recalls.
Spatial organisation was therefore an important consideration. “The great thing about the ‘bones’ of this apartment was that it gave us the opportunity to open up the entire public space (living and dining areas, and kitchen), and link these spaces together, with windows and doors opening out to the exterior landscape on two sides,” he says.
Not only do the two-way openings now bring in natural light and generous views, it also enables cross-ventilation.
When it came to the choice of materials, Lawrence picked white high gloss laminates as the dominant material to achieve the sophisticated aesthetic favoured by the homeowners. This was balanced off with polished dark marble flooring , as well as dark grey timber laminates for a natural, softer touch.
The dark marble flooring transitions smoothly to a similarly coloured tile in matt finish in the kitchen – to enforce a subtle differentiation of the different zones whilse ensuring a seamless visual connection between the spaces. In addition, the wife desired an island in the open-plan kitchen, and for it to be made of a ‘unique’ material. Lawrence fulfilled this request by constructing the countertop in black granite finished in leather.
The master bedroom has been designed with a hotel look and feel, and comes with nifty side tables that slide out to reveal the switches.
Carrying the same hotel-inspired look, the master bathroom has been entirely reconfigured and enlarged such that it now can accommodate his and hers vanity counters.
For more information, visit Akihaus
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