Always a way to do up a micro unit
By Kalapana Rashiwala
'A LOT of people don't understand that you can still make a small
apartment feel comfortable if you do not put in the wrong things.
Space planning to me is the most important part of interior design;
it is not about decoration first,' says William Ong, executive
chairman of Axis ID.
Micro apartments and shoebox units have gained currency in the past
year or so as some developers have shrunk apartment sizes to keep
lumpsum unit prices within reach of lower-budget investors.
Mr Ong argues that while such units are small, they can still be
practical and liveable if designed and laid out correctly. And one
can always count on some clever interior design tricks to help make
them appear bigger than they are.However, there has been concern
about the challenges that buyers will face in fitting out their
units when they take possession of their properties.
'In terms of space, you have to first see the space; then see how
to lay out the furniture so that it is usable, it doesn't clutter
up (the room); and thirdly, the scale of the items and the
furniture you put inside must complement the space.
'So you can't put in super-large sofas; or if you can only put in a
two-seater, you should not force in a three-seater, for instance .
. . If you put in the right scale, things will turn out right.'
No matter how small an apartment is, there is a way to lay out the
bed so that it sits nicely and still gives occupants space to move
around, to have access to the wardrobes without having to climb
over the bed.
'If you put your bed against the wall, you have a lot more space to
walk in a small room. But if you want to put your bed as an island
by itself, then you need space around it, and it (the room) will
look a lot smaller.'
Design
tricks
Besides careful space planning and the use of correctly scaled
furniture, one can employ mirrors and lighter colours to make small
apartments appear bigger.
'Another issue that a lot of people find with a small apartment
is they don't have enough storage space. But there are so many ways
to cleverly design and build storage areas without having to
clutter up the whole apartment.' An example would be to have a
full-height storage cabinet that forms part of a wall.
In any case, size is just one factor. The configuration of the
apartments, how they are laid out by the architects, is also
important, says Mr Ong, who also co-founded Axis' architectural
business.
'Sometimes layouts are very odd because of site constraints. In
such a case, even if you have a bigger apartment, it would be quite
useless. There would be a lot of wasted space with long corridors,
for instance, or a lot of odd-shaped rooms. Instead, if you have a
nice regular-shaped apartment, then even if it's small, you can do
quite a lot with it.'
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Practical necessity
The phenomenon of tiny apartments is neither new nor unique to
Singapore. Studio apartments have been around for ages, Mr Ong
points out. 'When the cost of real estate is very high, people can
only afford to buy smaller units, especially in prime areas,' says
Mr Ong.
Small apartments may serve the needs of a single person or even
a couple, and are also suitable for leasing to expats who just want
to have a pad when they are in town. 'I see a trend where these
small apartments may also be bought by companies for housing their
foreign staff,' Mr Ong says.
A major part of Axis ID's business is designing and building
showflats for residential projects of Singapore developers such as
City Developments, Ho Bee, Allgreen and Wing Tai.
Singaporean home owners increasingly want their homes to look
like showflats and boast a wow factor, according to Mr Ong.
'A home used to be something comfortable to come back to, and
live in. It didn't have to be glamorous and eye-catching. But
increasingly, owners want their homes to be more like showflats, a
place they can show off to their friends. The wow factor must be
there.'
As a result, the interior design gap between real apartments and
showflats is closing, says Mr Ong.
While Axis ID's staple business is showflats for residential
project launches, the firm also does interior design for homes of
individuals - but only selectively and usually when its sister
company, Axis Architects Planners, also provides the architectural
design services to these clients.
Growing affluence has spawned several trends on the Singapore ID
scene. For one, home owners are acquiring a feel for luxury and
quality. 'It has nothing to do with the style. Luxury can be very
modern, can be very traditional, can be very eclectic. It has to do
with versatility of people travelling, living in beautiful hotels
all over the world.'
The affluent and well-travelled are also expressing their own
personal style when it comes to their homes - instead of following
the crowd. 'Nowadays, I don't think there is a definite design
style that people will follow, not like before when there was a
certain design direction, for example, minimalist or Asian.'
Another thing that Singaporeans have picked up as they've
acquired greater wealth is a penchant for collecting - antiques,
artworks, furniture.
Their budgets for doing up their homes have also grown.
'You can see the trend. When housing was cheaper than what it is
now, people did not want to spend a lot on interior design. But now
when they spend millions for an apartment, they wouldn't want the
interiors to be fitted up cheaply. Probably the norm is within the
range of $400,000 to $600,000 for a new homeowner with an
average-sized three-bedroom apartment in the prime districts, as
many would prefer their homes to be fitted with imported designer
furniture. '
It's worth investing in more expensive furniture as it is of
better quality and lasts longer, argues Mr Ong.
'Somehow, when you custom-make something locally, it will never
match the quality of something you buy from a furniture maker
because they specialise in designing and making the furniture; how
could a contractor here do something comparable?'
Axis ID also has clients in the hospitality industry - resorts,
hotels and serviced residences - here and in the region. It opened
a Shanghai branch in early 2004.
The 56-year-old Mr Ong says: 'I don't take my job as work, I
take it as a hobby. I enjoy what I'm doing. I think that's very
important.'
He also lists travelling overseas as a hobby. 'Every trip, I
make it a point to visit new places, hotels, new developments,
visit other people's showflats and see how they do things. I can
tell you Singapore showflats are some of the best I have seen. I am
talking not just about the ones done by us but also some of the
other firms.
'I was very happy when I was in Bangkok recently. I spoke to one
of the big developers there and he said to me: 'You know how we
improve our standards? We go to Singapore and study the showflats
there. They have become our benchmark'.'