These beautiful houses in Singapore feature green elements that reduce their carbon footprint while creating comfortable and cosy spaces for the homeowners
Building sustainably should not be a trend but a given; yet, it is still an exception rather than a norm for houses in Asia. Fortunately, more homeowners are now becoming more conscious of living naturally with the climate rather than against it.
In Singapore, where we can enjoy natural ventilation and sunlight most times of the year given the right conditions, there is a high potential to live this way. After all, as Robin Tan, co-founder and principal architect of Wallflower Architects put it, that is how life was before the invention of the air-conditioner.
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“Going green also means relooking and reinterpreting tried-and-tested ideas in our architectural heritage. Whether it is in indigenous and traditional homes, or early colonial buildings, many have excellent approaches to keeping a building cool, ensuring that the spaces are well lit, and all this not requiring sophisticated or costly materials,” he says.
He adds: “Best of all, many of these ideas—deep overhangs, louvred screens, air wells—are passive. They do not require further energy to operate and will last the life time of the building instead of being another device that will become obsolete or technologically redundant.” Here, we look at six houses that attempt to go green in more ways than one.
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1. House of Twin Gardens by RT+Q Architects
Sustainable design is not just about green features but also the thoughtful positioning of the spaces for optimal ventilation and natural lighting. For example in the House of Twin Gardens by RT+Q Architects, the firm placed the main staircase against the front facade to buffer the main living spaces from the western sun. A skylight above sends natural light and air right down to the basement garage.
“[The house has] lots of natural elements like light, air and greenery—the “three essential joys of architecture” as propagated by Le Corbusier—as well as water to engage occupants,” says the firm’s co-founder Rene Tan. The master bedroom wing is surrounded on three sides by water and an impluvium-like feature [between the front garden and pool] that brings light, water, and air into the basement.
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