Tropical rigour: this family house in a Singapore suburb is an elegant response to a tropical climate

Architectural Review, The, Feb, 2004 by Robert Powell

The two partners of WOHA Architects, Richard Hassell and Wong Mun Summ, met while working in the offices of Kerry Hill in the early '90s and have since gone on to become one of the most imaginative young practices in South-East Asia. Their growing portfolio is mainly residential, ranging from condominiums to individual houses, but also includes a first prize in an open international competition for two Singapore MRT stations, in which they saw off much larger established firms such as Arup, Foster and SOM.

One recent notable residential project is the Hua Guan House, a north-facing, two-storey, semi-detached dwelling on a corner site. The site is also relatively long in the east-west direction, so avoiding the sun's glare at dawn and in the late afternoon. Like all the practice's projects, the design is based on a strong conceptual diagram that anchors subsequent formal and spatial development. Here, the house is divided into four distinct zones. The first is a circulation spine consisting of a 2.5m wide, 20m long gallery that extends along the southern boundary. This is entered from the west end and is punctuated by two dramatic double-storey lightwells, with the second storey illuminated by continuous clerestorey glazing. Next is a habitation zone that runs through both storeys. At first floor level this comprises a study, living room, dining room and breakfast/kitchen arranged in a linear fashion facing north. Immediately above are the master bedroom, family room and three children's bedrooms (democratically exactly the same size for each child).

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All rooms have a single aspect into the third zone, a two-storey high, 3m wide verandah, with a thin flat roof carried on slim stainless-steel circular columns. The remaining space is given over to a recreation zone and this too is rigorously linear, with a 25m long pool and poolside gazebo shoehorned into the widest part of the site. The remaining narrow strip has been heavily planted to protect the privacy of the outdoor area.

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The thoughtful investigation and implementation of a strong concept is evidently one key to the success of WOHA's maturing oeuvre. On such increasingly densely developed suburban sites they also employ a number of well-tried gambits. One is to 'invert' the house, in the sense that the majority of the large opening windows are at first-storey level and open out on to private space. Upper-storey windows generally overlook private areas for, as Wong remarked of an earlier house, 'It is quite impossible to control the view out; what today may be a tract of unspoiled forest may tomorrow be a multi-storey office.' Here, bedroom and family room windows face inwards over the swimming pool and have folding timber louvred screens. The generous roof overhang ensures they can be opened even in the monsoon season.

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In a 1987 essay, Wong wrote of his admiration for Herman Hertzberger's 'energetic emphasis on detailing and reinterpretation of tectonics and syntax.' The two partners also admire Scarpa's approach to detailing, though Hassell considers that in the work of both architects: 'The parts are more than the whole, whereas at WOHA we attempt to create an architecture where all the parts contribute to the whole'. In the Hua Guan House, the consistently high quality of detailing adds to the overall clarity of the architecture. For this critic, it is an evolving transcultural language that effortlessly integrates the principles of Modernism with traditional responses to a tropical climate.

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Architect

WOHA Architects, Singapore

Photographs

Tim Griffith

HOUSE, SINGAPORE

ARCHITECT

WOHA ARCHITECTS