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Architecture

The Stark House seamlessly blurs natural and built environments

Designed by Park + Associates, the Stark House unifies vibrant interiors with its natural surroundings creating a beautiful balance.

This project is situated in a typical Singaporean landed housing estate built in the 1980s. The estate is located in an area of interesting and seemingly disparate activities. Within a 1.5km radius, the Stark House is surrounded by other housing estates – both low and high rise, the Changi Prison Complex, Changi Airport, and several industrial and commercial areas.

Stark House - perspective view
Stark House is situated in a typical Singaporean landed housing estate built in the 1980s

With this fairly unusual confluence of building types, Park + Associates began by questioning themselves what context means to them. More often than not, architecture participates in multiple contexts with layers of complexities. For a new element of architecture to be introduced successfully, there is an absolute need for a holistic consideration of the various contexts involved. For the sake of inclusivity and community conduciveness, their belief lies in that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Examining what it means to respond to site context eventually became the main driver of the scheme.

If you are curious to know more about residential architecture that blends natural surroundings in its design, don’t miss VTN Architects bridge the divide between people and the natural environment with Ha Long Villa.

Stark House - pool
Combined with the outdoor swimming pool, the basement nook becomes the focal point of family activities and outdoor entertainment

Together with the client’s brief, the planning of the house was conceived utilizing the site’s natural topography and mature trees at the back of the site. As such, it is apparent that the living spaces in the house turn away from the front where the view is that of neighboring houses, a common consequence of landed housing estates such as this. Instead, it faces the back of the house where the greenery provides a private, green sanctuary.

The site topography was taken advantage of to create a basement nook that opens out to the green. Combined with the outdoor swimming pool, the basement nook – hardly perceived as a basement – becomes the focal point of family activities and outdoor entertainment.

Stark House - livingroom overview
The planning of the Stark House was conceived utilizing the site’s natural topography and mature trees at the back of the site

On the first story, the planning sought to maximize the porosity through the site, revealing the view towards the greenery at the back. Designing for porosity was also a response to the site constraint, a strategy to make the site appear deeper than it actually is. As one approaches the house through the long driveway, s/he is not confronted with a blank wall or garage that abruptly terminates one’s movement, but greeted with a green expanse that is welcoming both to the inhabitants and visitors alike.

The entrance experience, a particular interest in Park + Associates studio’s oeuvre, is enhanced. Besides enabling effective cross-ventilation vital for our climate, the openness allows for borrowed views as well as daylight to filter into the living room.

If you want to know more about architecture that takes advantage of its natural surroundings, don’t miss Casa Bautista: truly sustainable luxury at the heart of Sian Ka’an Biosphere.

Stark House - interior materials
Stark House - nature integration
The spaces of the Stark House face the back of the house where the greenery provides a private, green sanctuary
Stark House - front view
Examining what it means to respond to site context became the main driver of the Stark House design

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