The house is located on the steep slopes of Mount Serapong.

Balconies project over the pool terrace.

Tan Kok Hiang graduated from the School of Architecture at the National University of Singapore in 1987, with a final year design thesis that examined how traditional design principles can be integrated with modern technology. Upon graduation, he joined the practice of Akitek Tenggara where he worked with Tay Kheng Soon on a variety of projects, including the award-winning Kandang Kerbau Women’s and Children’s Hospital.¹

Tan left Akitek Tenggara in 1994 to set up Forum Architects in partnership with his wife Ho Sweet Woon, who had previously worked with Tang Guan Bee, William Lim Associates and Akitek Tenggara. Forum Architects have subsequently developed a reputation for inspired problem solving on difficult sites, such as Cavenagh Fortuna (1999), the Henderson Community Club (2000) and the Assyafah Mosque (2002),²

the latter developing ideas first formulated in Tan’s NUS thesis. The practice has also completed a succession of highly original dwellings, which include the Wilby Road House (2000)³ and the Sian Tuan House (2001).⁴

The Lakeshore View House, designed by Tan and Lye Yi Shan, is an uncomplicated response to a magnificent site on rising ground facing east towards the Straits of Singapore. The house steps down the slopes of Mount Serapong, with the main rooms orientated towards the sea view and the Serapong Golf Course in the foreground.

The house has a simple linear orthogonal plan stretching along the contours. The four horizontal layers of the house are stacked above each other and punctuated by two vertical circulation elements. A sculptural external staircase is attached to the southeast corner of the house, and a circular metal staircase at third-storey level, which gives access to the roof deck, is visible on the west elevation.

Another organizing element in the plan form is the functional separation into what Louis Kahn referred to as ‘the served and servant spaces’. In this house, the ‘servant’ spaces, that is to say, the bathrooms, access stairs, powder rooms, entrance lobby and maid’s quarters, are arranged along the west elevation facing the hillside, while the ‘served’ spaces, such as the master bedroom and principal living quarters, enjoy the magnificent view of ships lying at bay in the Eastern Anchorage.

The house is entered in the southwest corner at second-storey level directly into the linear living room. Beyond is the open dining room and kitchen. All overlook an east-facing timber terrace. On the western flank of the house, a staircase descends to the first storey, which contains a guest suite, a bar and an entertainment area with a snooker room that can be converted to an additional bedroom. The lower floor opens out to a sheltered patio, a timber deck and an infinity pool.

The second storey is reserved for a master bedroom suite and two additional bedrooms, all of which enjoy access to a roof terrace via the circular staircase. Topped by a pitched roof, the house satisfies by its straightforward response to the site and aspect. A restrained palette of materials adds to the clarity of the architectural massing.

The east façade is more open and transparent than the western side.

The vertical circulation is confined to the western flank of the house.

Sunlight penetrates into the living room in the early morning.

A bathroom detail.

The principal rooms look east.

The house overlooks Serapong Golf Course and the Straits of Singapore.

A horizontal roof light brings daylight into a second-storey corridor.

First storey plan.

Footnotes

1 Hee Limin, ‘Rhapsody in White: The Kandang Kerbau Hospital’, Singapore Architect, No. 200/98, Singapore Institute of Architects, December 2008, pp. 18–25.

2 Assyafah Mosque won an Architecture+ Award (Dubai) in 2004.

3 Robert Powell, ‘Architecture and Nature: Wilby Road House’, SPACE, No. 6, Singapore: Panpac Media, December 2000, pp. 50–6.

4 Robert Powell, ‘Up on the Roof: The Sian Tuan Avenue House’, SPACE, No. 2, Singapore: Panpac Media, April 2001, pp. 70–6.