Studio Talk: 01

Floor House

June 2015 Home and Decor Magazine

We are very happy to be featured in June 2015’s edition of Home and Decor magazine! The article “The Great Escape” presents one of our early projects Floor House, and we hope you enjoy reading about it too! Do drop us an email enquiry if you would like to know more about our work!

“The Great Escape”

When this couple need some space to relax and clear their mind, all they have to do is to come home to their clean, uncluttered and utterly calm apartment.

It started with a desire to escape from a city life filled with busy commutes and schedules. Architecturally trained homeowners Liew Kok Fong and Ong Cai Yi stripped away what they thought were unnecessary in their five-room flat, removing and shifting walls to create two roomy areas for work and play. Only part of the master bedroom was retained for rest.

Designed by Liew, who runs his own interior design consultancy, Studio Super Safari, the renovation took three and a half months, and cost $70,000 (excluding furniture). The investment had mostly gone into the reconfiguration of walls, the timber flooring, and platform storage system.

Upon entering the light-filled abode, the work area (which is also Kok Fong’s home office) is the first zone you see. Architectural books, models and a collection of toys and gifts from friends fill wall-mounted and waist-high shelves. The centrepiece, his desk-cum-dining table, was made by two abutting 1.5m long wooden panels, with trestles as legs. This long table is also used to host dinners, but can easily be dismantled and tucked away when they need space for a party. The creative couple have even used it as a ping-pong table!

The mid-section of the flat is the play area. A platform sets a stage, beneath which is an abundance of storage space to conceal clutter. The six modules in the middle can also be raised to form a coffee table.

When asked if the lack of rooms could be an issue when the couple decide to have children in the future, Kok Fong says that this layout was a conscious decision. “When I was young, my two siblings and I shared a room, and I believe that’s why we are close and have a good relationship. We like the connection. I want my kids to bond, play, work and sleep within a (single) space too,” he shares.

The couple’s love for wood is evident from their collection of furniture, including an old, unwanted chair that was refurbished by Cai Yi’s father. The space also embodies the Scandinavian design philosophy of simplicity, minimalism and functionality, and the couple is in no hurry to fill up the empty space or walls. Kok Fong says: “We want the house to age and grow with us over time.”

[“The Great Escape”, in Home & Decor, June 2015 (Singapore: SPH Magazines, 2015), pp. 130-135.]