Breaking Walls and Perspectives
84
- Eclectic
- HDB (Maisonette)
- ≥1,500 sqft
- 4 br
- Couple Living
After the master bedroom was relocated to the other end, a major wall was hacked away to dramatically open up this room to serve as a multi-purpose room - an exercise area or a potential second living room on the upper floor. Foldable glass doors allow the room to be re-created when needed. The open-close configurations provide versatility as well as aircon efficiency. Balancing trade-offs is a major aspect of making decisions. Our original intention was to have a cleaner and sleeker look for our folding glass doors. Less panels = bigger footprint when folded Thinner frames = handling and safety concerns Better aesthetics = reduced functionality No bottom track = less stability Since the folding glass doors will be left open most of the time, we opted for more panels, which also allows a convenient door entrance for access while keeping 3/4 of the panels closed. Thicker frames do not look as good, but given that these are full-height glass panels, having something stronger to hold them makes sense, especially when we have chosen not to have a bottom track. 
Pre-planning and early intervention matter when it comes to laying tiles. For the wood-look tiles on the upper floor, we wanted to avoid a systematic pattern, especially a “step” effect. We managed to get the contractor to instruct his tilers to lay the tiles in a randomised manner, while maintaining not more than 30% offset between each tile. The stairwell in an EM is very dark by default. We hacked 75% of the walls to maximise natural lighting and airflow. The end result is improved brightness and ventilation. The cross breeze is lovely. We opted not to smoothen the recess in the wall, choosing instead to go with an arch design to complement the others in the apartment. A modern impressionist painting injects some colour to an otherwise monochrome scene. We don’t usually see it that way but we do like how this shot captured both entrances to our master bathroom. Having two bathroom entrances is both convenient and inconvenient at the same time. Convenient - because it allows easy and quick access. Inconvenient - because you have to close and open both doors before and after using the bathroom. Still, we like it that way because more ventilation is never a bad thing for bathrooms. Originally, French doors that open outwards would have felt odd to us for the master bedroom but they are in sync with the windows, which fold outwards when they are open. We do enjoy looking at this scene - it is like another apartment within the unit.
- 12 September 2023
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