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7 HDB Renovations That Elevate Flat Style to New Heights
These HDB transformations will make you do a double take with their unique designs
Chiquit Brammall
14 February 2020
Design journalist and freelance editor. Dollhouse architect. Serial renter.
There’s no doubt that local designers are pushing the style envelope when it comes to HDB renovations. Now it’s no longer about concealing plumbing pipes and standard-issue window grilles. These homes show how designers proficient in space planning and material finishes can transform a cookie-cutter apartment into a dream home, a personalised sanctuary, and even a style statement to aspire for.
1. Fashion avenue
Home: 4-room flat in Tanglin Halt
Designer: Raymond Kuek of Fineline Design
Style and design icons such as the Prada artwork on the wall, the Louis Ghost chairs, and Magis Puppies are reined in by a sleek, white palette with sophisticated brass accents. Luxurious materials such as Volakas marble and white powder-coated steel help keep this home ever-ready for entertaining.
Read the Houzz Tour: This HDB flat shines bright with a monochrome palette
Home: 4-room flat in Tanglin Halt
Designer: Raymond Kuek of Fineline Design
Style and design icons such as the Prada artwork on the wall, the Louis Ghost chairs, and Magis Puppies are reined in by a sleek, white palette with sophisticated brass accents. Luxurious materials such as Volakas marble and white powder-coated steel help keep this home ever-ready for entertaining.
Read the Houzz Tour: This HDB flat shines bright with a monochrome palette
2. Maximum style
Home: 5-room flat in Sengkang
Designer: Yeo See Wee and JJ Yip of Wee Studio
This award-winning apartment, home to the couple who designed it, makes use of mirrors on the ceiling to create a luxurious loft ambience. Wee and Yip applied all the creativity their clients aren’t bold enough to live with in their own home, so there’re plenty of talking points here. Thankfully, they’ve done it with panache, and albeit maximalist in appearance, a controlled hand.
Read the Houzz Tour: Pushing boundaries in a flat that’s high on style
Home: 5-room flat in Sengkang
Designer: Yeo See Wee and JJ Yip of Wee Studio
This award-winning apartment, home to the couple who designed it, makes use of mirrors on the ceiling to create a luxurious loft ambience. Wee and Yip applied all the creativity their clients aren’t bold enough to live with in their own home, so there’re plenty of talking points here. Thankfully, they’ve done it with panache, and albeit maximalist in appearance, a controlled hand.
Read the Houzz Tour: Pushing boundaries in a flat that’s high on style
3. Fit and lofty
Home: 4-room flat in Bendemeer Road
Designer: Fuse Concept
Designed with a modern-industrial style in view and the owners’ requirement for a home gym, this home has a solid, almost-masculine, ambience. We love the Tadao Ando-inspired feature wall, created from concrete screed with groove lines and holes.
Read the Houzz Tour: A grungy chic flat meets fitness goals
Home: 4-room flat in Bendemeer Road
Designer: Fuse Concept
Designed with a modern-industrial style in view and the owners’ requirement for a home gym, this home has a solid, almost-masculine, ambience. We love the Tadao Ando-inspired feature wall, created from concrete screed with groove lines and holes.
Read the Houzz Tour: A grungy chic flat meets fitness goals
4. Accessible in style and function
Home: 5-room flat in Delta Avenue
Designer: Charmaine Wong and Jacob Ishak of Chark
A Japanese minimalist aesthetic rules this apartment; but what really stands out here is how it has been designed to be a house without obstacles and corners. It’s intended to be an accessible home for its wheelchair-bound owner, who fractured her spine. Wong says that the owner hopes to recover, so the house has been designed with that in mind, too.
Read the Houzz Tour: Turning an old flat into a wheelchair-friendly home
Home: 5-room flat in Delta Avenue
Designer: Charmaine Wong and Jacob Ishak of Chark
A Japanese minimalist aesthetic rules this apartment; but what really stands out here is how it has been designed to be a house without obstacles and corners. It’s intended to be an accessible home for its wheelchair-bound owner, who fractured her spine. Wong says that the owner hopes to recover, so the house has been designed with that in mind, too.
Read the Houzz Tour: Turning an old flat into a wheelchair-friendly home
5. Style sophisticate
Home: 4-room flat in McNair Road
Designer: Joey Khu of Joey Khu Interior Design
Master of modern luxe style, Khu employed snazzy materials such as marble-look cladding and quartz tops, timber veneer and dark-hued laminates to jazz up this award-winning apartment. Handle-less doors from kitchen cabinets to bathroom doors maintain a streamlined look that allows the designer furniture to shine.
Read the Houzz Tour: Modern luxe is celebrated in a swanky flat
Home: 4-room flat in McNair Road
Designer: Joey Khu of Joey Khu Interior Design
Master of modern luxe style, Khu employed snazzy materials such as marble-look cladding and quartz tops, timber veneer and dark-hued laminates to jazz up this award-winning apartment. Handle-less doors from kitchen cabinets to bathroom doors maintain a streamlined look that allows the designer furniture to shine.
Read the Houzz Tour: Modern luxe is celebrated in a swanky flat
6. Familial yet feminine
Home: 5-room flat in Marine Parade
Designer: Priscilla Tan from Styledbypt
This family-friendly home – there are two young children – is bright, airy and chockfull of the owner’s personal style, which is charmingly feminine, with a sleek, Scandi undertone.
Read the Houzz Tour: A child-friendly home with touches of femininity
Home: 5-room flat in Marine Parade
Designer: Priscilla Tan from Styledbypt
This family-friendly home – there are two young children – is bright, airy and chockfull of the owner’s personal style, which is charmingly feminine, with a sleek, Scandi undertone.
Read the Houzz Tour: A child-friendly home with touches of femininity
7. Shaking up the transitional style
Home: 5-room flat in Fajar Road
Designer: Arjan Nijen Twilhaar of Aiden T
Traditional Shaker style meets touches of Art Deco and industrial glamour in this renovated resale flat. With two young children, it’s a pleasant surprise that this home has thoughtfully incorporated their needs while letting its traditional architectural features shine.
Read the Houzz Tour: A family home takes on a glam industrial revamp
TELL US
Which HDB style is your speed? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, bookmark the story, and join in the conversation.
Home: 5-room flat in Fajar Road
Designer: Arjan Nijen Twilhaar of Aiden T
Traditional Shaker style meets touches of Art Deco and industrial glamour in this renovated resale flat. With two young children, it’s a pleasant surprise that this home has thoughtfully incorporated their needs while letting its traditional architectural features shine.
Read the Houzz Tour: A family home takes on a glam industrial revamp
TELL US
Which HDB style is your speed? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, bookmark the story, and join in the conversation.
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