Live, work, play the architect's way

Business Times 28 Feb 08;

Tan Kay Ngee is following the footsteps of his grandfather who ran a business from the shophouse where he lived, says ARTHUR SIM

THE notion that the best cities are those that blend small neighbourhood communities with large business districts is increasingly being recognised and championed.

But it is not really new.

It is also something that dawned on architect Tan Kay Ngee after he moved into his Tanjong Pagar home of two adjoining colonial-era Peranakan shophouses.

The building includes Mr Tan's photography gallery on the first floor, his architectural practice of 12 people on the second floor and a pied-a-terre on the top floor.

And if one subscribes to the new 'Live, Work and Play' outlook espoused by our urban planners, it is also a microcosm of the city - or a city within a city.

Mr Tan takes precedent from his past.

'My grandfather ran a business from the rooms on the ground floor of the shophouse in Circular Road. Everybody knew each other and there was a real sense of a little village on that street,' he says.

In his own way, Mr Tan is trying to bring back life to his street, which now only comes alive at night when the pubs and karaoke lounges open.

He has done this by first creating a space for local artists, primarily Singaporean photographers, who can exhibit and sell their work.

The gallery was formed together with his friend Tay Kay Chin, and is currently featuring the works of Chow Chee Yong.

An art gallery, of course, is nothing unusual, but one that is located in both your home and office takes on a different dimension. Anyone can walk off the five-foot way and into the gallery during opening hours. And this immediately provides a friendly platform to engage total strangers.

As an architect of some of Singapore's most iconic modern houses, Mr Tan also wanted to create a certain atelier atmosphere for his staff, so that Design with a big 'D' is constantly on everyone's mind.

But he believes that good design comes from various unexpected sources like fashion, film and of course, art. 'When you embrace all this, your architecture will have the feel of the moment,' he explained.

Mr Tan, who was part of the design team for the Singapore Management University campus (SMU), adheres to a design ethic which focuses special attention on contextual elements of design.

As with the SMU campus, which was raised in many areas to allow a continuous flow of the green plane of the grounds that was once Bras Basah Park, Mr Tan's shophouse home also addresses the tropical context.

'Designing a house is the smallest architectural brief, and most complex, because everything has to work,' he says.

With a large built-up area of about 4,800 square feet spread out over three floors, Mr Tan had a lot of space to play with. But most of the architectural insertions are there to emphasise the traditional shophouse. These, like the internal courtyard, work to drive fresh air through the building.

The architectural language that Mr Tan is most familiar with tends to include stainless steel and flat roofs, so working on a 100-year-old building threw up some pleasant surprises. 'You get first-hand experience on how these traditional houses work. For example, the pitched-roof really has hidden magical qualities. The air in the space created by the roof acts as a buffer against the heat and adds a cooling effect to the house. Normally, a concrete flat roof will absorb heat from the sun,' he explains.

There are design interventions in this home that do make it clearly a space of the 21st century. The predominance of humble plywood as a design feature is one.

'I search to understand materials,' Mr Tan says, explaining that where plywood has been used as a veneer for surfaces, the sheets of plywood have been selected and placed individually for grain and colour, 'like a work of art in itself'.

'There is a certain subtlety at play,' he added.

Other subtle touches can be found in the master bedroom, which one enters through an oversized palazzo-style timber door that clearly says 'Private - Keep Out'.

The master bedroom suite comes with an attached roof terrace where the shower is located. Looking down from the roof terrace, one can see Mr Tan's prized garden, which he has managed to rent from the authorities on a monthly basis.

There is a school of thought that believes that any conservation work should be clearly articulated to reveal that it is new rather than to mimic history. So where additional windows and openings have been added, the structural reinforcement is exposed.

The living space, which has a kitchenette attached, is defined by the sweeping pitch-roof which has the joists exposed to good effect.

Occasionally, Mr Tan's staff might have to annex certain areas in his home to work in, but he does not mind. Recalling the days of his grandfather again, and remembering how the people who worked in the shop would eat most meals with the family every day, he says: 'It's the old Chinese way.'