︎
christopher gong ︎

Singapore, FITCH Design





S & A


Project: The Topiary



Moving into a new resale apartment, homeowners S&A plans to revamp the home for their lovely three children. They have an eye for fluted panels and feel that the industrial design style is “very last year”.


Last renovated five years ago, the previous homeowner has quite an eccentric taste. Their chose on canopies instead of bed frames. Some areas have too much uneccessary lightings. Every angle feels too jarring to look at.

Clear the mess!


The backsplash is quite confusing to look at; it is vibrant in color yet the ornaments look old fashioned. Our strategy is to retain some furnitures, to modify them as new features in the design. We planned for more soft pastel colours to neutralise the heavy tones. In other words, we attempt to redesign the home by rectifying the heavy components so that the space looks holistic again.


Overlay tiles


Initially, we planned to overlay wall and floor tiles for both bathrooms. However, homeowners dislike the idea of entrance curbs and wanted the external flooring to be leveled with the bathroom's floor tiles. We concluded the best way is to hack/redo the floor tiles. In this situation, MSCT requires to coat waterproofing under the tiles. The bottom portion of the wall (highlighted in yellow) is needed to coat for the "upturn”. In other words, it has to be hacked and a new set of tiles will be laid over again. For the other walls, there is no issue as the overlaying tiles will cover it up.


We decided not the overlay walls tiles at the shower area, retaining its existing tiles look.
Big slab terrazzo tiles from Hafary

There will be additional labour charges for tiles larger in size. Reason being it is difficult to level them evenly; one off-angled tile can cause the rest to be slanted.


This is a hacked off tile, we have to find a tile closest in color, texture and size. Handed this piece over to the homeowner to source for the tile design.


I sourced for the other tiles to match when homeowner’s busy. This tile was to match the kerb for the yard’s bathroom.


Terrazzos & Repetitions


We decided on a few tiles at Hafary, we picked on a modern and luxurious look.


The Terrazzo tiles plays a key role in the children’s bathroom. It aims to portray fun and energy, yet still keeping it within the styling


Some graphic hints for the selection of tiles. The repeated triangle and square tiles are backed by dark grey grouting so that the shapes will be identifiable.


To Design & Draft

These are the renderings proposed, our initial plans were to keep the spaces warm and cosy, more of wood touches and less of solid colors.However, the homeowner prefers something “cooler”, with the inclusion of grey laminates, attempt for a clean and modern look. We added in a few closed up views to pitch for the fluted panels storeroom which suited the theme as well. We’re glad that these renders pulled through and our client loved the design. We switched out some of the laminates and some structures. We have a photoshoot and here are how the photos turned out.


Photoshoot!

The triangles worked really well as a it doesn’t feel too heavy. It was toned down to a single feature wall. An illusion of the triangles filling up the entire space
I love how the colors of the speckled terrazzos matched with the dried flowers too
The drawers are placed separately below for more practical usage and a differentiated look. White shaker wardrobe plays a clean and refreshing look with the gold coated handles.
The kitchen looks cleaner with the grey laminate. It matches with the grey groutings and square tiles. The opposite side hood/stove & built-in oven
Existing feature wall retained, the white walls neutralizes its colors. A soft pastel laminate cabinet with a colored terrazzo top to go with the bathroom’s theme