3 Flexible Design Approaches for 3-Room HDB Flats

Young homeowners buying 3-room resale flats are, together with their designers, exploring ways to 'change' their layouts

Chiquit Brammall 2 November 2018

Design journalist and freelance editor. Dollhouse architect. Serial renter.

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A 3-room HDB flat, especially one in mature estates or near the city, is hard to come by. Those who are lucky to get their hands on the two-bedroom units almost immediately want to strip it down to its bare, structural walls, hoping to carve out additional space. We found three that successfully did that.

Free Space Intent

1. Colourfully concealed in Holland V
Home: 3-room flat in Holland Ave
Designer: Free Space Intent

There may be a lot of elements in this flat – patterned tiles, industrial-style exposed electrical trunking, coloured cabinetry and black-framed doors – but they are thoughtfully put together.

The walls have been removed, without the rooms actually being reclaimed by the kitchen and dining area. Instead accordion doors separate them from the social spaces. Embossed glass and metal accordion doors enclose the living room from the kitchen and dining area, if the homeowners don’t want cooking smells to bother those enjoying that space. When these doors are open, a free-flow, open-plan-style living-dining-kitchen emerges – making the 3-room flat feel much bigger than it is.

Free Space Intent

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ERStudio Pte Ltd

2. Stylishly screened in Bishan
Home: 3-room flat in Sin Ming Drive
Designer: ERStudio Pte Ltd

Doors also replace a wall separating one room from the living and dining area. In this flat, the semi-transparent doors are made of vertical slats that form a screen. One door swings open, while the other slides into a pocket within the wall to reveal the study-guest room. When the doors are left open, this space becomes an extension of the living area, almost mirroring the sofa to create a larger social space.

ERStudio Pte Ltd

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SOLID architects

3. Mirror magic in Bukit Merah
Home: 3-room flat in Bukit Permei
Designer: asolidplan and Solid architects

Mirrors are cleverly used in this flat to disguise its odd layout – it has an angled wall that almost makes the plan triangle-shaped. The designers use the mirrors to create the optical illusion that the room is a proper box (shape). But the mirrors are also sliding doors that conceal and reveal the kitchen, the entertainment centre and storage.

SOLID architects

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