URBAN VEIL
COMPLETED
FUNCTION: Single Family Dwelling
SITE AREA: 133.2 sqm
FLOOR AREA: 341.27 sqm
This project is the renovation and transformation of an existing three-storey corner terrace house with an attic, located off Balestier Road along Jalan Kemaman. Positioned at the end of a row of terrace houses, the dwelling is fully exposed on three elevations to Singapore’s intense tropical sun and the activity of a busy urban street.
Type 0 Architecture was engaged to comprehensively overhaul the house, including the insertion of a lift, a complete reconfiguration of the interior, and the design of a new building envelope. The intervention treats the facade as an environmental interface rather than a decorative surface, mediating between the domestic interior and its demanding urban context.
A thin aluminium perforated screen wraps the building as a continuous veil. Computationally designed, the screen modulates its porosity in response to programmatic needs: opening where views, daylight, and ventilation are desired, and gradually tightening against opaque walls. This produces a sinuous gradient across the facade, balancing solar shading, privacy, and outward connection. The screen softens the impact of the harsh afternoon sun while filtering visual and acoustic intrusion from Jalan Kemaman’s heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Rather than sealing the house off from its surroundings, the facade operates as a calibrated threshold, allowing the dwelling to remain visually connected to the neighbourhood while protecting interior comfort.
In contrast to the controlled and protective exterior, the interior is organised around a four-storey stairwell conceived as a vertical environmental void. Capped with a ventilated skylight, the stairwell draws daylight deep into the house, terminating at ground floor planters filled with lush greenery. This vertical space operates as a climatic device, generating a stack effect that encourages natural ventilation through vents integrated around the skylight.
Together, the environmental facade and the internal void establish a calibrated balance between exposure and retreat. The project repositions the existing house as a climatically responsive urban residence, shaped by environmental performance, spatial clarity, and the realities of dense city living.
