| |

A Tiny Apartment in Singapore Maximizes Space With a New Loft

ByMyProperty Life

Metre Architects, a design firm known for its innovative spatial solutions, has pushed the boundaries of conventional design again with their latest project entitled Vessel. Located in Singapore, this new condo apartment underwent renovations to add a loft structure and to tailor the design to the lifestyle needs of the young professional couple who owns it. The pair requested a loft to be added to the compact 41-square-meter space (approx. 441 square feet) with a 4.7-meter-high ceiling (approx. 15-1/2 feet tall) while retaining the existing floor finishes, kitchen, and bathroom for both financial and sustainability reasons.

Modern interior of a home featuring a unique wooden ceiling design with embedded lighting, a staircase, and minimalist furnishings.

Upon entering the condo, visitors are greeted by a linear kitchen running along the left side of the hallway. The loft, which has a lower soffit height than the corridor, is visible from the entryway creating a sense of anticipation and spatial depth from the start. The integration of LED strip lights, along the ribbed joinery on the bottom of the loft, enhances the overall ambience of the small living room underneath it and beyond.

Read another article:Design Trends for Creating a Vacation Vibe at Home

A woman walks through a modern living room with a unique wooden ceiling structure and a staircase on the right.

The loft resides above the living room, which is reached by a clever wood box staircase comprising alternating half steps. The steep angle of the design requires a much smaller footprint than a typical staircase. Space under the stairs was not wasted; Metre Architects added a wall of storage accessed with push-to-open mechanisms that allow the panels to rest flush against the wall without the need for pulls or knobs.

Wooden staircase with cube-shaped steps against a white wall in a modern interior.

Read another article:Hot Trends: 20 Best Farmhouse Style Kitchens in White and Wood

A series of tall wooden panels in varying heights arranged in a staggered line on a wooden floor in a room.

A neat home office featuring two monitors on a desk with an ergonomic chair, overhead wooden cabinets, and minimalistic decor.

The loft houses the couple’s home office along one wall with views of the backyard out of their double-height wall of windows on the other side. Amongst the lush greenery in the back, the apartment has a garden patio to enjoy time outdoors.

Read another article:Revamped Small Barcelona Apartment Combines Multiple Styles and Finishes

A serene interior featuring a wooden ledge by large windows overlooking lush greenery, with a small potted plant as decoration.

Aerial view of a person reading on a bed in a modern, compact multi-level apartment with wooden stairs and minimalistic design.

A woman in a raised wooden loft smiles down at a man lounging on a chair in a modern, wood-paneled room with minimalist decor.

A pair of floor recliners in the living room are used in lieu of a larger, traditional sofa to save on space. The original wall that divided the living room from the bedroom has been replaced with sliding fluted-glass doors, allowing for a seamless integration (or separation) of the two spaces as needed. The textured glass allows natural light to pass through while offering the couple privacy when they desire it.

Modern living room with wooden paneled walls and a unique, large ceiling light fixture, featuring cozy chairs and a small table.

A wooden cabinet door partially open, showing a glimpse of the contents inside, with a visible metal handle on the side.

Modern hallway with wooden walls and ceiling featuring linear lighting, leading to a kitchen on the left and an entrance door ahead.

Modern kitchen interior with geometric wooden paneling on walls and ceiling, featuring a vintage tv on a wheeled stand and a hanging pendant light.

The Vessel loft, reminiscent of the construction of a boat, serves as the metaphorical ship that supports the owners through their current phase of life while offering the potential for future occupants to embark on their own journeys within its walls.

Modern wooden slats illuminated from within, creating a warm, ambient glow.

up view of a wood slatted ceiling with embedded lighting under loft

view from small modern bedroom looking out through sliding gladd doors into living room

view from small bedroom looking out through sliding glass doors to small living room with embedded lights in ceiling

side view through small modern living room with two chairs with bedroom behind it

Modern studio apartment with wooden interiors, large windows overlooking greenery, and a young couple engaged in conversation at a small table.

Modern bedroom with large windows, a bed, two chairs, and a desk, overlooking a garden with lush greenery.

angled interior view of small modern apartment with two chairs on floor and woman pushing sliding glass doors open to bedroom

Modern living room featuring two cream chairs, a round wooden table, large glass windows with sheer curtains, and a view of a patio with outdoor furniture.

Modern kitchen with white cabinets and a washroom visible in the background, featuring stylized ceiling lights and a view of greenery outside.

Modern bathroom interior with a glass shower, wooden cabinets, and beige tiles.

Exterior view of modern condo building with white exterior with green trees and plants in front

Photography by Shiya Creative Studio.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

Similar Posts

  • Lady

    Architecture and interior design studio idea:list designed a classy, sophisticated and feminine apartment in Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana. Delicate design together with feminine lines of selected functional pieces, contrasts with pragmatically designed furniture suggests an aesthetic choice that clearly defines the identity of its user – a timeless Lady. The client wanted to keep her 62 sqm apartment bright, seemingly warm and simply shaped, with some addition of blue which she adores so much. That is why the architects sought conceptual inspiration from the period of Bauhaus and many times overlooked Elieen Gray’s interiors. With its clean lines and functionality her pieces were nevertheless designed with comfort in mind in addition to a great deal of feminine elegance and glamour. The interior was designed by carefully playing with volumes and voids according to their function while dematerializing them and maximizing their use. As such the design is consistent through the whole apartment – each full element is useful and intended for a specific purpose and each void is formed with the knowledge that it can soon be filled. The latter basically functions on its own, but if the owner fills it with objects such as paintings, statues or some useful pieces such as fashion accessories and dresses, the objects are placed in a functional frame or compositional context and do not act foreign. At the beginning the architects from idea:list studio rearranged the kitchen in the living space from an L shape design into two parallel lines that gave them additional storage space. The kitchen island formed as a volume that rests on a long storage bench that connects the kitchen part and the dining space and with its reduced lateness opens up the room and lets light seep through. This new orientation of the kitchen and consequently also the dining part enables circular visual communication between the latter two and the living room, perfectly fitting into its user’s living habits. Perfect counterbalance to an elegant kitchen in two shades of blue lies in furniture covered with oak veneer. Consequently this volumes combined with different colours and materials form a starting point upon which other spaces are designed. The latter is manifested in different functions of assembled volumes and colours. The work area and guestbed are represented in the cabinet as voids and are highlighted by wooden lines that visually continue in theform of a bench throughthe hallway and into the living space where they manifest as a cabinet under the television. The empty frame in the bedroom lets light pass through to the wardrobe while still dividing the sleeping part from the dressing room and in addition serving as a hanger and a place for a rotating mirror. Clean minimalistic lines are complimented by rounded shapes as details that make the space more elegant and sophisticated. This shows best with the shapes of mirrors in this apartment which have a dual function – for examplethe mirror in the bedroomthat simultaneously serves as storage space for jewellery likewise the mirror in the hallway (together with the blue lining) also serves as a cover for the installation cabinets, as a shelf for hanging keys and finally it acts as an introduction to the aesthetics of the apartment (and its owner) to every visitor. The luxurious deep blue velvet on the rounded upholstered backs of benches and beds adds a desired elegance to the space, while carefully selected fabrics in curtains and cushions further enrich it with different textures and delicate contrasts. PROJECT INFO
    Interior Design: idea:list studio
    Design Team: Urša Kres, Tina Begović, Urban Pahor
    Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
    Photography: Blaž Gutman