The client wanted an exciting, dynamic home that would make the most of the spectacular steeply sloping site overlooking the Botanic Gardens World Heritage Site. Working through the client’s design brief was an organic process, with rooms being added as the architecture was developed. This made it difficult to maintain a coherent design, so the constant streamlining of spaces and the overall mass was an ongoing process.

Feng Shui also played an important role in determining design elements such as the circular elevator and the slope of the front door. The site is located on a busy street in Cluny, across from the entrance to the botanical garden. From the road, the site rises steeply to a platform many meters above road level. Thus, vehicular access to the site was difficult and was a determining factor in the design. To minimize the mismatch between first floor platform level and road level, it was decided to enter at basement level, and to create an easy and spacious entrance to the basement, the yard was flooded with a landscaped pond with a waterfall to form a connection to nature. Even adopting this strategy meant that the driveway had to be winding and steep.

Because of the highly elevated nature of the site and the prominent location of the building above the road, the authors decided to make it light and “float” by using large consoles of thin elements, reducing the visible mass of the building from the road. The attic floor was an all-steel structure with an aluminum roof that also supports a large number of photovoltaic elements.

Name: Botanica House
Location: Singapore
Architecture: Guz Architects
Construction: 2018
Square footage: 1308 m2