Words and images S+Arch
Editing The Kanto team
On a narrow 189.4-sq-m inter-terrace plot in Singapore, Curlicue House is a study in proportion, restraint, and light play. The modest 6-by-31-m-deep site is occupied by an 11-m-high volume measuring 5.8 m in width and 21.5 m in depth. Its curved façade and layered voids negotiate the narrow parcel, while stark surfaces and generous apertures yield an unexpected openness within. We designed the home for a young couple: he, a legal professional; she, a risk specialist consultant, at the cusp of starting a family. Their brief called for a tranquil, private dwelling that feels generous within its bounds and grounded in material simplicity, while supporting a growing family with plans for multiple bedrooms and spaces for a helper and extended family.
The house’s name hints at its most visible gesture: the curved façade, a response to the western sun and the tightness of the site. The form’s soft sweep shades the interiors, reduces heat gain, and defines the entry experience. Olive trees at the front of the house reinforce the gentle arrival experience, bringing greenery into immediate view. A narrow entrance corridor bends gently before releasing into the foyer and double-height living hall. Light pours through full-height windows, extending the gaze outward to the front garden. This spatial gesture of contraction and expansion runs throughout the Curlicue House, shaping one’s experience of light, air, and proportion within its fold.
The front of the ground floor holds the living and dining areas, where the wine cellar nestles under the staircase. Beyond a central open-to-sky courtyard airwell, the kitchen occupies half the footprint at the rear, its glazed sliding doors opening directly to the backyard. The kitchen’s generous scale and placement answer to the clients’ love for cooking and entertaining, while also maintaining visual connection with the courtyard and garden.
During the pandemic, Curlicue House’s design evolved to support dual work-from-home routines. A study in the attic is adjoined by a lounge through custom shelving, both anchored by a cast-concrete micro-cement worktable sized for two. Concealed storage and a small pantry keep the space functional and discreet. On the second floor, a softly lit niche, a request from the husband, sits beneath a sunlit portal, providing space for pause and prayer.
Our design approach for Curlicue House treats architecture, interiors, and landscape as one seamless composition. A restrained palette of lime-wash plaster, micro-cement, oak timber, brushed metal, bush-hammered granite, and honed marble grounds the spaces with tactile consistency. Our material choices amplify the architecture, and is atmospheric rather than decorative. Curved millwork, softened edges, and filtered light bestow the interiors with the calming, fuss-free simplicity the clients desired, while consistency in detailing reinforces the understated elegance of the spaces.
The house can operate comfortably in a naturally ventilated mode using cross and stack ventilation through the central court atrium and multiple operable openings at the front and rear. Active systems were integrated where required, including provisions for EV charging and roof-mounted solar panels, ensuring performance while remaining true to the passive design strategies.
The dialogue between inside and outside is vital to the project. The double-height windows in the living room open to the front garden, establishing a visual axis that runs the full depth of the house: from the front garden, through the courtyard, to the backyard. This continuity enhances cross-ventilation and extends sightlines, dissolving the line between interior and exterior. Taller, fine-canopy trees were chosen for the courtyard and rear planting areas, allowing the upper floors to open up to the foliage. Planters at the attic level allow the master bedroom and study to remain visually connected to greenery, reinforcing the home’s integration of nature throughout, especially as it sits in a busy urban lane.
“Our material choices amplify the architecture, and is atmospheric rather than decorative.”
The project’s success rested on collaboration, a dynamic alignment among the client, architect, designer, and builder. Iterative refinement guided decisions regarding lighting, landscaping, and detailing. We still see how these regular conversations with our collaborators are shaping the home’s lived-in texture.
As an evocation of our philosophy as a firm, the Curlicue House is architecture as a lived, sensory experience. Its monolithic form conveys monumentality, while light and shadow play along its curved façade as if a canvas. Volumes shift and expand within, drawn out by a restrained material palette, while light and shadow move across surfaces to evoke a sense of openness, warmth, and presence. It is a space to live and feel—a home with room to grow. •
