Project manager plays with shape, colour in Henderson Crescent HDB flat

SINGAPORE – Growing up, Mr Edwin Tan never had a room of his own, so buying his first home in 2024 was an especially significant milestone.

“Owning the whole place means I get to build it around my lifestyle,” says the 37-year-old project manager of the 871 sq ft space, a four-room Housing Board flat in Henderson Crescent.

He was drawn to the concrete walls, done in the style of Japanese architect Tadao Ando, in a project by home-grown firm Morphosis Studio. The studio was the only one he contacted that did not dismiss his ideas as overly ambitious.

For the design team, comprising lead designer Chris Lee and junior designer Chong Churan, this project was about creating a home that aligned with the client’s vision and which would resonate with him emotionally.

Mr Tan wanted the spaces to transition naturally from one to the other.

For the entrance foyer, he asked the interior designers to use the flooring and wall colours to change the mood. Hexagonal stone tiles sprawl in a seemingly random pattern as they transition into the next space. This involved cutting the vinyl to align with the tiles, like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.

Instead of a built-in shoe cabinet, Mr Tan chose a shipping-container cabinet and bench to divide the entrance foyer and dining area.

He did not want to limit the home to a single palette, so the container is in his favourite colour: green – which stands out amid the foyer’s stony grey hues.

A full-height concrete wall, inspired by Ando, makes a statement in the living area and provides the perfect backdrop for a diverse palette of colours and materials. The sofa can be converted into a larger bed when Mr Tan is entertaining.

More of his favourite hue can be found in the form of a Lafayette television console beside the sage-green parapet wall below the windows.

An acrylic, see-through, “ghost furniture” coffee table adds a modern touch. Its special coating reflects sunlight into a kaleidoscope of colours. Its circular shape also differentiates it from the rectilinear forms of the sofa and console.

It sits above an irregularly shaped rug with concentric grooves that appears to spill out from the walls.

The space’s vinyl-and-hexagonal tile combination continues in the dining area. “Hexagons resemble ‘angled circles’ to me, and it was what drew me into making use of them. They are also part of the molecular structure for dopamine,” he explains, referring to what is often called the feel-good chemical.

With some reconfiguration, a walk-in wardrobe was added to the bedroom. The low platform bed instils a casual and relaxed ambience.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, cinnamon red counters and blue cabinets are juxtaposed against cement screed walls and terrazzo flooring.

More hexagons can be found on the bathroom walls and floor. It is common for bathrooms to have a strip of accent wall tiles, but Mr Tan chose the hexagon motif to echo the shapes found elsewhere in the home and create wave-like imagery that washes across the space.

The renovation took about three months and cost about $65,000, and Mr Tan moved into his new home in December 2024.

“It may look like a mishmash of ideas, but I have a story for each element and why I chose it to be part of my space,” he says. For him, a house becomes a home “when you see it as a part of you, when it is filled with your rhythm and routine – and, most importantly, your stories”.