Hill Top Residence | K2Ld Architects

Hill Top Residence, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

Hill Top Residence is a house that sits on a steep triangular plot located in Bukit Tunggal, Singapore, designed by K2Ld Architects.

+ Project description courtesy of K2Ld Architects

Hill Top Residence, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

One of the first design hurdles designing this house was the topography and the land shape it sat on; that is, upon entering from the road, the ground descends gradually down 6 meters. This meant excavating into the ground from a point that was half the length of the house in order for a basement to open out to the pool on the same level, thus receiving natural lights and air. This was no small matter, because with this sloping terrain and subsequent height to the basement opening, this would hint at a house that could be a 3-storey structure. Therefore, to work around this imminent planning requirement, the architects devised a plan to reduce the basement opening while raising the pool level by a few steps.

Hill Top Residence, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

As a result of turning this situation into a winning opportunity, the now well-lived basement gets natural ventilation and daylight. The space contains all necessary informal dwelling for family entertainment, kids’ play, a study and easy access to pool with washroom and showers.

Hill Top Residence, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

Another challenge was the client’s brief to design the home to hold and showcase an extensive collection of valuable art. While light (whether natural or artificial) was essential for human comfort living, so was the need to shelter the artworks from excessive glare. Therefore, the architects set out to balance both competing requirements and made all considerations to carve out corners, nooks, crannies and niches for gallery track lighting (to illuminate hanging art) and sculpture placement. Similarly, all the interior spaces were carefully shaded wherever there are openings, whether recessed under overhangs or mediated with screens and adjustable vertical timber slats.

Hill Top Residence, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

Having overcome both of the above, the architects took care to ensure the overall scheme was not compromised. This led to the construction of a very dramatic front and back cantilever on the upper storey, whose bulky volume now sits ever so “weightlessly” on a smaller ground floor footprint. In doing so, the house quietly asserts its majestic uniqueness on the overall elevated terrain, almost like a crane resting on the hill.

Hill Top Residence, image courtesy of K2Ld ArchitectsBest of interior and architecture

Khai House | K2Ld Architects

Khai House, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

Khai House, sketch courtesy of K2Ld Architects

K2Ld Architects has designed a private house – Khai House located in Singapore. The transparency and boundlessness are the key features of the house design.

The approach to spatial definition is most vigorously pursued at ground level, where there are spaces but with no trace of rooms bounded by walls.

K2Ld Architects

+ Project description courtesy of K2Ld Architects

In the Khai House, the architecture is worked within the context of an open ‘garden’ dwelling to create a clear separation of functions without resorting to conventional dividers.

Khai House, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

The structure, on a corner plot, is of two interlocking forms at right angles to each other, and within this, activity spaces are separated from service spaces by levels – bedrooms on the upper level, activity areas on ground level and servants’ quarters in the basement.

Khai House, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

The approach to spatial definition is most vigorously pursued at ground level, where there are spaces but with no trace of rooms bounded by walls. Physically, the delineation between the inside and the outside is blurred by the combination of stone, wood, concrete, and timber screens that gently prompts the eye to carve out notional spaces and enclosures in what is an open ground plan without walls or a clear boundary line.

Khai House, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

The garden design pays careful attention to the various framed views through the ground floor, such as in a vertical landscape wall next to the pool used as a device to muddy the distinction between the horizontal ground plane and the boundaries of the enclosure. The effect is that ground spaces open and flow seamlessly into the surrounding landscape. While there is no apparent clarity of spatial segregation, there is a notional sense of spatial distinctiveness, a separation of space that is intuitive more than physical.

Khai House, image courtesy of K2Ld Architects

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Palabritas Beach House | Architect Jose Orrego

Palabritas Beach House, image courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

Palabritas Beach House, image courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

Palabritas Beach House, recently completed by Peruvian firm Architect Jose Orrego, is a contemporary and stylish house designed to capture the view situated on the coast of Lima, Peru.

+ Project description courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

The house is located on the first row of lots and was designed so that the architecture acted like a frame to the view of the beach and the islands that are found in front of the house.

The esthetic of the house celebrates the summer with modern curves that remind us of the Brazilian architecture of the sixties.

Palabritas Beach House, image courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

The whole house has a white finish with color accents in red, in both main elements such as the swimming pool as well as furnishings. The house reminds us of competitive elements used in Stanley Kubrick films, with the white curved elements contrasted with details in red.

The exterior was designed as a white elevated box, exposed from its front side. One of the sides has a concrete lattice based on a contemporary composition with perforations that allow the interior to have a transparency without losing its intimacy.

Palabritas Beach House, image courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

The dining and living room are placed so that they can be integrate with the terrace by sliding the glass doors.

An interior patio was developed on a lower level where the bedrooms and family room conjoin so that an intimate zone for these rooms are created.

The main bedroom is located on the first level and was designed so that it had a view towards the ocean.

Palabritas Beach House, image courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

As a whole the house created a contrast of red color over white surfaces, in a way that the spaces give an appearance of amplitude.

From the inside of the living room, the architecture offers a frame that shows the landscape of the beach, the island and the sunset.

Palabritas Beach House, image courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

Palabritas Beach House, Basement floor plan courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

Palabritas Beach House, Ground floor plan courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

Palabritas Beach House, Section 3 courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

+ Project credits/ data

Project: Palabritas Beach House
Location: Palabritas Beach, coast of Lima, Peru
Architect: Architect Jose Orrego

+ All drawings and images courtesy of Architect Jose Orrego

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All that Glitters Arris Architects Mumbai’s very first jewellery shopping precinct dazzles with its unique design Arris Architects were assigned an exigent task - not merely to maximize the retail footprint in a very tight structure but also to offer the patrons a visual gratification never experienced before, creating Mumbai's first jewellery precinct, Jewel World. After Pehlajani Developers won the bid for the legendary Cotton Exchange Building built in 1939 they sought to capitalize on the landmark structure’s exceptional location transforming it into a vibrant hub of business after four decades of ceased future trading cotton business. Visual communication was the key design focus while conceiving the retail area, and the final design succeeds in exploiting individuality for each and every shop front. The patron is gradually cocooned within the shopping experience, which is a 115’ long and gradually curving corridor, interspersed by sinuous curvilinear elements, which “de-scale” the long corridor for the patrons, while bringing a sense of identity for each shop. The shop fronts on either side of the corridor are treated with distinctly different materials – white acrylic solid surface, and veneer - each individually elegant, yet together strive to connote the wonderful union of different eras and the unique cultural flux of the city. After three years of intense work on the refurbishment of the interiors and sensitive treatment of the facade Jewel World opened to public in March 2009 garnering widespread public and critic’s

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