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Conservation Townhouse at Cairnhill Road

This is a pre-war terraced house with the front sections gazetted as conserved. Typical of the colonial genre, the site is narrow and deep, with the length of the house punctuated by two internal courtyards which allow light and air into the internal spaces.

The most significant expression of this house is a new three-storey extension at its rear. This is a transparent volume which contains the master bedroom and study on the second and third storey respectively. Both these spaces are linked by a double-volume glass void which looks out onto a majestic rain tree. They are detached from the party walls and the narrow gaps are planted with lush greenery for an all-round pavilion-like feel to the rooms.

The new extension is linked to the conserved section of the house by a courtyard which has a soaring granite-clad wall that plunges into the koi pond below. The courtyard is covered with a rectractable skylight which makes the spaces below usable in all weather conditions. An open staircase that overlooks the courtyard is anchored around a feature wall painted a bright, fire-engine red.

Bathrooms are located along the side of the courtyards and are ventilated through vertical timber louvers.

The rooftop terrace over the rear extension is an outdoor living space that provides a reprieve from city living with a garden set under the canopy of the adjacent large rain trees.

Article Source: Timeless Tropical, selected works by Timur Designs (ORO Editions)