Mont Timah Singapore, Southeast Asian Residential Building, Cluster Housing Design

Mont Timah, Cluster Housing : Singapore Residential Building

Residential Development, Upper Bukit Timah Road design by Chan Sau Yan Associates

18 May 2012

Mont Timah Singapore

Architect: Chan Sau Yan Associates

Category A: Residential Projects (Cluster Housing)
Client / Owner: Maylands Investment Pte Ltd

Mont Timah is set against the backdrop of a hillside verdant with tropical vegetation, on a site which tapers narrowly at the far end. The architect found an innovative way to organise the strata landed homes by creating a series of pinwheels.

Each pinwheel is a cluster of 4 houses, pivoting around the centre core housing private lift shafts for each apartment. The pinwheel design is architecturally and structurally efficient and was key to the success of the design. It gave the designer endless flexibility in design to optimise views for each house. The layout created gaps and breathing spaces within the grounds.

The landscape was able to take advantage of the design to create a lush and intimate environment which blended with and extended the presence of the natural surroundings.

16 Oct 2011

Mont Timah, Cluster Housing Singapore

Architect: Chan Sau Yan Associates, Singapore

Location: Republic of Singapore

Mont Timah, Cluster Housing

Photographs: Aaron Pocock – Aaron Pocock Photography

Mont Timah is sited next to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, off Hindhede Drive.

It comprises of 8 blocks of 3 storey residential building with basement carparks, swimming pool and amenities such as children’s playground, wading pool, clubhouse, outdoor timber decks, and landscaped outdoor areas. In the vicinity are cycling and trekking trails leading to Bukit Timah Hill, as well as the Hindhede Nature Park. The Bukit Timah Shopping Centre and Beauty World Plaza are just close-by, along Upper Bukit Timah Road.

The cluster housing development explores the notion of living at proximity with nature. With a site of 7,843sqm, the entire development manifests in clusters of dwellings, arranged around a 25m lap pool and lush greenery. These clusters are arranged in descending terraces, following the sloping profile of the site.

Using the pin-wheel as a diagram, a base unit is rotated to form a cluster of 4 identical units. True to the definition of cluster housing, the development is first of its kind in Singapore with each cluster divided into quarters. All units enjoy the ‘landed’ characteristics of bungalows, with their individual private enclosed space on the ground floor inclusive of a water feature, lawn and timber deck. From the ground floor, every household has either direct access to the landscaped areas or through landscaped footpaths.

One of the very first forest reserves established in Singapore, the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve retains one of the largest tracts of primary rainforest left. The landscape concept for the development, hence, is about luscious and abundant foliage, one that merges seamlessly with the dense and undisturbed vegetation of the nature reserve. The development is also sensitive to this relationship to its natural surroundings and seeks to reduce its ecological impact with its ‘green’ features.

Articulated forms and generous fenestrations which maximize the view of the forested surroundings are characteristics of the development. The choice of materials of off-form concrete, wood and natural stone is in character with the rustic surroundings, giving a sense of honest materiality to the development.

Each unit consists of 4 bedrooms, private enclosed space and a sunken courtyard at the basement, two levels of roof terraces including a staircase to the roof top as a viewing platform to the nature reserve. Every bedroom is directly accessible to a private external area which provides an intimate quality to each of the private rooms. A standard feature to every household is the home elevator which stops at every level within the unit, providing easy access for all in the family.

Mont Timah Cluster Housing images / information from FD

Singapore Institute of Architects Architectural Design Awards

Location: Upper Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, Southeast Asia