3 Maisonettes, 3 Different Design Approaches

The now-rare HDB typology offers more space and versatility by flipping its cookie-cutter design on its head

Chiquit Brammall 28 September 2018

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

Who doesn’t love a maisonette, the double-storey unit designed with three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the upper floor, and living and dining rooms, kitchen, bathroom, utility/store room, and balcony on the lower floor? Not only does it have more space – typically 140 to 145 square metres – than a regular flat, but there’s also more room (pardon the pun) to personalise it.

Country Concept Pte Ltd - Singapore

1. Country-cosy in Bukit Timah
Home: 1,560 square foot- (146 square metre-) maisonette in Toh Yi Drive
Designer: homeowners Lingting Ko and Santosh Kumar, with Country Concept‘s Field Teo, and contractor Jensen Tan

The owners saw this renovation as an opportunity to realise their dream home, so they went all in with the country style. They wanted a home that could host gatherings with friends and family, so the social spaces – including the kitchen – had to be roomy enough to accommodate a fair number of guests.

Chiquit Brammall

Note the original layout of the maisonette on the left, and how the owners opened up the original study/bedroom and flipped the order of spaces so that when you first enter the home, a mudroom – most uncommon in Singapore – greets you. The kitchen was opened up, and a generous island was built for light meals and hanging out with the home cooks while they prepare a feast.

Read more about this home

Free Space Intent

2. Scandi-inspired in Serangoon
Home: 1,700 square foot- (157 square metre-) maisonette in Serangoon
Designer: Raymond Seow from Free Space Intent

Seow took a cue from the husband’s occupation as a graphic artist to add a personal stamp, in the form of bold outlines and hooks mimicking grid lines, to the modern Scandinavian style that the owners requested for.

Free Space Intent

Like the previous maisonette, the owners of this one wanted an open-concept kitchen so that they could entertain more comfortably. Save for the structural walls, Seow pretty much opened up the lower floor to achieve that easy flow from the dining area, which is what you first see as you enter, through to the open-concept kitchen and the living area.

Read more about this home

0932

3. Rustic industrial in Ubi
Home: 1,570 square foot- (146 square metre-) maisonette in Ubi
Designer: Roystern Goh of 0932 Design Consultants

Goh’s intent in giving this home a raw and rustic industrial look echoes the urban industrial aspect of Ubi, the neighbourhood that this home belongs to. He achieved this with exposed concrete and metal profiles, adding warmth through woodgrain laminates and warm lighting.

0932

While the layout follows much of the original flow of typical maisonettes (see layout above), where the first social space you see when you enter is the dining space, Goh replaced parts of the kitchen wall with glass panels and doors. The entire rear wall separating the balcony was also replaced with pivot glass doors, to allow maximum sunlight into the inner recesses of the maisonette.

Read more about this home

TELL US
Which of these designs do you prefer? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, bookmark the story, and join in the conversation.