Interior Design School of Design Singapore

Wong Tian Hong (Hellooo)

Designing has always been a big part of my life.

Since young, I have been designing through my drawings, my lego blocks, and of course my wild imaginations. I have never lost that imagination of mine from a young and it has accompanied me through the years of being a design student. I had my ups and downs through all the design projects I have done but one most important thing that I have learned is to never stop learning because that is when your potential to create is endless.

The project that I am presenting is based on how the pandemic situation has affected the daily lifestyles of everyone which I will speculate on how our homes and surroundings will evolve, bringing about a new way of living.

Contact
tianhong9719@hotmail.com
T.Wong3@student.gsa.ac.uk
Academic Portfolio
Linkedin
Series
Families and Communities living during the Pandemic
Flexible Living Space
Site
Vertical Corridor
Interconnection

Families and Communities living during the Pandemic

The sudden hit of the pandemic on humanity put the world into huge distress. New challenges and changes have interfered with our daily lives. One most significant change that I felt great that definitely affected many people is the freedom to engage in social interaction.
From the beginning of the pandemic until the current situation, I have constantly observed how my neighborhood responded to the situation. I believed everyone started to put more attention to kinship and friendship. Things that we used to take for granted as it is always readily available has suddenly appeared so important and valuable.
Hence, my project is to focus on the idea of bringing people together within families and communities that we have built over time during the context of the pandemic. I hope my project will allow people to continue to appreciate the importance of relationships between families, friends, and neighbors.

The project itself contains 3 segments.

The 1st part of my project focuses on the interior of the HDB flat under the context of the lock-down period during the pandemic. The aim is to create a flexible and multifunctional space to fit the needs of the current of people living in HDB flats.

The 2nd part of my project is about creating a vertical corridor that allows circulation across the HDB block. As the pandemic situation improves, the need for outdoor spaces and social interaction increases. In addition to it, my HDB block does not have a void deck or common area for interaction.

The 3rd part of the project acts as a continuation of part 2 which focuses on the connectivity between HDB blocks.

Events of the Pandemic.

Flexible Living Space

The first part of the project investigates the problems arise from the pandemic. The aim is to create and design living spaces in response to the pandemic issue, in order to satisfy and better accommodate the different needs of people due to the sudden change of lifestyle due to the lock-down period.
As the lifestyles of people revolve around their own homes now, the few main needs of the people that will be focused on are defined spaces, private and communal spaces, and flexibility within spaces.
What I hope to achieve is to create a space that will be beneficial and feasible for the people at its best potential towards the new lifestyle as a result of the pandemic. Space will focus more on the overall wellbeing of people, allowing them to dwell and engage in activities normally even without leaving their homes such as working, exercising, hobbies, and playing.
Most importantly, to me, a home is meant for a family to be able to live comfortably and happily together. Space should allow every member of the family to engage in their personal activities and also activities together so to promote the idea of living harmoniously.
This space is supposed to allow people to better sustain themselves within their own homes during covid-19 but it is also a workable space for people even after or without a pandemic scenario hence it will be a long-lasting design.

Spatial Planning(Left). A comparison between the original and the reconfigured space(Right).
A private space for working or studying or having some alone time. A smaller space for better concentration and without getting disturbed. It acts as a meditative space as well. The window allows natural sunlight and the user to look out of the window when taking a break.
Toilet sliding door which is also a holding shelf that works both side, one facing the toilet and the other facing the bedroom.
The sliding door that separates the bedroom into 2 spaces for children sharing the room and both spaces can house different activities at the same time. It can also be opened, allowing siblings to play and engage in different activities together.
Opening the sliding door of the master-bed room allows the connection with the walkway to create a larger space/ living room space for people to watch tv or chat with each other. Bedroom space that includes a side sofa beside the window to act as a meditative space as well.
Opening the sliding door at the kitchen area together with the master-bed room sliding door allows cooking and a bigger space for eating together as a family. The kitchen space also includes space for a washing machine and some extra space for storage for items. It also shows the walkway that connects all the spaces together.
With all the sliding door opened, it allows the maximum usage of space within the space of the house. It also allows a bigger playing area for children.
Sections to show how the space connects together and activities such as watching tv, dining and resting.

Site

POPULATION

Over 80% of the Singapore population stays in HDB hence hopefully this project can introduce a new configuration of interior space within HDB flats to better fit the needs of the current during the pandemic.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Having lived there for a long period of time, I have experienced physically and emotionally how it feels to be in a HDB flat. I am also very familiar with my neighbors and I am able to understand how they felt during the lock-down period besides my own family.

TYPOLOGY

In Commonwealth Close, the older HDB flats have also a smaller typology. During the lock-down, being isolated in a smaller space compared to a larger space is more detrimental to a person’s wellbeing hence I feel there is a need to reconfigure the original space to make it more breathable for the occupants.

HISTORY

My HDB estate was built around 1960 to 1966 when Singapore was gaining independence while solving the problem of the shortage of houses, a problem brought forward during the British Colonial rule. As it was a rush and an immediate action, the HDB flats being built only focus on fulfilling the basic needs of the people required in the house. Therefore, I feel that there was a lack of consideration towards the wellbeing of the people living within the space, and the lock-down when people are isolated within their homes for long periods of time has caused them much discomfort.

Proposed site is image above that is circled in red.
Interior of my house
Exterior of my site

Vertical Corridor

The second part of the project is to investigate and speculate the current situation of the pandemic progressing from the first project. As the pandemic situation slowly heads towards a better outcome, there is an increase in the need for social interaction and gathering of family and friends. As I have worked within the interior space of the HDB flat, I decided to look into the exterior spaces of it.
This led me to speculate the design and creation of a space within the block of flats to allow people to have social interaction and connecting them together vertically. I want to create a warm and comfortable space that is totally opposite of the cold hard concrete of a HDB building. A new space that is never seen within the typology of the HDBs could show a strong contrast.
The main focus that I would want to bring out of this project is how space could bring out the intimacy between people across the whole block.
With the ongoing pandemic, hopefully, this project can remind everyone to better appreciate the kinship and relationship they have.

Initial design with the structure at its basic form.
The colour coding is to mark out the 2 different circulation paths across the HDB block, the blue one which is the original path I have decided it is meant for the fast pace of our lives where it is a direct path to the stairs or the lift. As for the green path, it is the path to slow down our lives, where we can actually relax and enjoy in a common area for the residents.
Illustrations of how the space created can actually function like having a space to gather or resting. It is to also show the calm and relaxing atmosphere that the space is supposed to give off to the residents to allow them to dwell around. This gives the comparison between the corridor and the created space as well to show how different the spaces are being used by the residents. They can actually engage in activities such as walking a dog, planting, strolling and a taking a break.

Finalised Design

Perspective showing the overview of how the space connects through the whole space. The circled areas are the entry point to the vertical corridor.
One of the entry points to the vertical corridor. This perspective is to show the contrast between 2 pathways where the materials differ from one another(Left). The evening/night time where people could go for a nice stroll after dinner or work. It is also a space for people to destress by looking at the night sky and just having some alone time(Right).
Along the journey through the pathway, there are small planter pots where residents could actually grow smaller plants to make the pathway more vibrant(Left). The different platforms also allow people to relax at their own chosen spot. The grass patches will allow a more comfortable sitting and also demarcate the walking path and the sitting areas(Right).
The journey through the walkway will bring us to a central space which allows a larger group of people to gathering. It also has planting areas for the residents to plant a larger variety of plants. They can also do some simple bodyweight exercises or take a jog across the whole vertical corridor.
Different angle of the central area of the vertical corridor(Left). As the plants continue to grow and taken care of by the residents, the whole space itself becomes a urban forest. As plants and greenery are always changing, it makes the space always interesting as it is never the same when having the journey through the vertical corridor(Right).
A central space for a group of people to gather and interact(Left). Perspective to feel the calm and relaxing effect from the vertical corridor, a space that one can dwell in for a long period time(Right).
The visual interaction between different levels of the vertical corridor.

Interconnection

The third expansion of this project acts as a continuation of part 2 of the project. The main objective of my project is to be able to bring people together and have the social interaction people need. With that being said, there are friends and families that actually live in the HDB blocks that are right beside each other.
Since I have designed to connect people vertically across a block, I have decided to bridge the connection between 2 blocks together to widen the radius of interaction within the community.
Part 1 of the project starts within a home, Part 2 works with the whole block, and Part 3 is about starting a connected community. I believe that the pandemic, it has caused many families and friends unable to see each other for a long period of time. Hopefully, this project can reflect how everyone felt when going through the pandemic.
Part 3 of the project will be the conclusion of my project and for my project as a whole, I just want this project to be a meaningful project for everyone that sees it.

Exploration of different circulation

Initial planning with basic shapes to visualize how will the structure connect(Left). Adding the trellis structure to work as a shelter and also a medium for the separation of pathways. The choice of materials are similar to the vertical corridor to show that it is a continuation from the structure. The size of the platforms are also standardized like the vertical corridor so that it could limit the number of people on a single platform(Right).
The image shows how the space connects from one block to another and also the different paths that be used. The trellis acts as a form of shelter and also creates a separation between spaces. The size of the space determines the level of intimacy of the space.
Showing the contrast between the space with a trellis and the space without. There is a different level of visual and sound interaction between the 2 spaces(Left). Connection at different levels to allow more interaction between 2 blocks of flats and also giving more opportunities for different groups of people to gather(Right).
The overview of the entire project where all the different parts of the project connects together.