House with Layers

House with Layers is an inter-terrace shophouse along Joo Chiat, Singapore. The project was an opportunity for a dialogue between the conserved front and the newly added rear block, accessible from the back lane. The two halves are negotiated by a new double height atrium topped by a conical skylight, created by enclosing the original central courtyard. A self-supporting staircase, wrapped with a porous mesh infill railing, accentuate the verticality of the space within the tight width of the shophouse lot. This space is illuminated with a circular skylight, a reference to what would have been traditionally an open air lightwell, allowing daylight to flood the inner depths of the shophouse, activating an otherwise dimly lit intermediatory space. A trap door in the ceiling of the five-foot way reintroduces a feature found in some traditional shop houses- Originally built to allow residents on the second storey to conveniently carry out commercial transactions with anyone in the five-foot way below, at House with Layers, this doubles up as a monsoon window for ventilation even during wet weather, at the second storey master bedroom. At the back, the modern extension is softened with balconies lined with greenery, providing visual relief against the backdrop of modern stacked volumes. House with Layers is enriched by the tension between new and old, manifested in the contrast between solid and porous planes and the interplay between raw and polished finishes.