For 3 Siblings in Singapore, This Siheyuan-Style Build on the Site of Their Childhood Home Offers Room to Grow

2022 Best of Year Winner for City House Architecture

Three siblings were attached to their childhood home in Singapore, a colonial-style bungalow ringed by lush vegetation. They loved its deep eaves, pitched roof, and mix of Malay and Victorian details. But as adults, they had outgrown the shared space. The trio asked Neri&Hu to build a new, larger house on the same site that evoked the original design, balanced private and communal spaces, and included a small memorial garden to honor their late mother.

The design team met these requests by re­interpreting the traditional Chinese home, or siheyuan, a typology that accommodates multiple generations under the same roof. The 12,800-square-foot, two-story structure is centered on a courtyard and remembrance garden, with communal spaces on the ground floor and private ones upstairs. The concept frames the Zenlike garden as the sacred heart of the home. The main corridor forms a circle around it, and open-air light wells and austere concrete interiors create a meditative environment. But expansive glass walls and sliding doors also connect living areas to the surrounding greenery and a swimming pool.

On the second floor, four bedrooms and balconies are housed within the steep gables of the zinc roof. Three double-height spaces allow family members to look down from the private to public zones, ensuring their daily lives are always intertwined.

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neri&hu design and research office: lyndon neri; rossana hu; christine chang; sela lim; bella lin; kevin chim; alexander goh; haiou xin; july huang.