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Grotto House
Grotto House
Singapore
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Other Projects by Formwerkz Architects
Grotto House
Singapore
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2019
SIZE
3000 sqft - 5000 sqft
The house is built for an Otolaryngologist and his family of seven that cherishes quietness and privacy. The family consists of the couple with three children in primary and secondary school, with two grandparents. Two helpers live in the house with them. An immediate concern expressed in the brief was the traffic noise from a nearby expressway. The doctor also envisioned a home for his multi-generational family that is both open and cosy at the same time.
From the beginning, we imagined a fortified space that cocoons the interior from the bustle of the highway but selectively reconnects with its surrounding. The massing is layered, with three distinct strips that programmatically delineates the house. Each stratum carved to accommodate and vertically relates the spaces within. The central stratum houses the main family spaces, connected across different floors with a staggered atrium, illuminated by diffused daylight filtering through the lacerated attic planters. The narrowest layer is largely circulatory across the floors. It is largely faced with a rough board-formed concrete wall that appears to levitate, leaving a continuous slit before it meets the ground. This gap connects the indoor to the lap pool that lines the side boundary, extending into rear and connects with the sunken garden that bring light to the living space in the basement. The third stratum on the northern face houses most of the bedrooms, lift and service spaces. This layered configuration allows us to weave a rich tapestry of spatial experiences within a compact layout. Private, contemplative nooks for the individuals are interspersed across the generous, voluminous communal spaces within the house.
“Within the house, experience of the outdoors and the different enclosed spaces are layered and framed. With every turn, a new space is discovered.”
Internally, openings punctuate the wall that separate the main communal spaces and the private domains in the northern stratum. Views to the exterior are framed to avert curious gaze from passer-by and neighbours. The House celebrates the dichotomy of having both qualities of openness and privacy in a singular space, as the spaces are intimately enclosed, but remained framed with a view of the next layered space.
A palette of rough, board-formed concrete, marine plywood, galvanised steel and brass permeates the house. Materiality crafted to capture the passage of Time were intentionally selected for the interiors, contributing to the ambience of the house. It is a house that seeks to embrace life and all its traces as it age. A special formwork was customised for the casting of the pattern arising from the board-formed concrete walls. Marine plywood that clads the walls of the house, registers moistures differentially over time, accentuating each panel uniquely as it ages. Special detailing was required for the pervasive use of brass around the house, in areas such as door strikers, staircase handrail, kitchen bar counter and a towel rail that doubles up as a light. We were fortunate to have clients who embraced the idea that Beauty lies in the stories within, and were receptive to the use of materials that revealed the traces of time and life as they age. This is significant in a society that is often too consumed with the culture of Newness.
From the beginning, we imagined a fortified space that cocoons the interior from the bustle of the highway but selectively reconnects with its surrounding. The massing is layered, with three distinct strips that programmatically delineates the house. Each stratum carved to accommodate and vertically relates the spaces within. The central stratum houses the main family spaces, connected across different floors with a staggered atrium, illuminated by diffused daylight filtering through the lacerated attic planters. The narrowest layer is largely circulatory across the floors. It is largely faced with a rough board-formed concrete wall that appears to levitate, leaving a continuous slit before it meets the ground. This gap connects the indoor to the lap pool that lines the side boundary, extending into rear and connects with the sunken garden that bring light to the living space in the basement. The third stratum on the northern face houses most of the bedrooms, lift and service spaces. This layered configuration allows us to weave a rich tapestry of spatial experiences within a compact layout. Private, contemplative nooks for the individuals are interspersed across the generous, voluminous communal spaces within the house.
“Within the house, experience of the outdoors and the different enclosed spaces are layered and framed. With every turn, a new space is discovered.”
Internally, openings punctuate the wall that separate the main communal spaces and the private domains in the northern stratum. Views to the exterior are framed to avert curious gaze from passer-by and neighbours. The House celebrates the dichotomy of having both qualities of openness and privacy in a singular space, as the spaces are intimately enclosed, but remained framed with a view of the next layered space.
A palette of rough, board-formed concrete, marine plywood, galvanised steel and brass permeates the house. Materiality crafted to capture the passage of Time were intentionally selected for the interiors, contributing to the ambience of the house. It is a house that seeks to embrace life and all its traces as it age. A special formwork was customised for the casting of the pattern arising from the board-formed concrete walls. Marine plywood that clads the walls of the house, registers moistures differentially over time, accentuating each panel uniquely as it ages. Special detailing was required for the pervasive use of brass around the house, in areas such as door strikers, staircase handrail, kitchen bar counter and a towel rail that doubles up as a light. We were fortunate to have clients who embraced the idea that Beauty lies in the stories within, and were receptive to the use of materials that revealed the traces of time and life as they age. This is significant in a society that is often too consumed with the culture of Newness.
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