SINGAPORE LOW-COST HOUSING SCHEME
Architect: Philip M. Barnes A.R.I.B.A., F.I.A.M., Dip. Arch.
Rapid advances in air-conditioning technique have dealt a mortal blow to the old pre-war type of house in Singa- pore. Lofty and spacious rooms despite whatever architectural merit they pos- sessed, have become a serious handi- cap to modern design of life demanding concentrated comfort.
a
The rising cost of living and inordinately high land values are two very great influences in house plan- ning and design Advances in various mechanical techniques have enabled householders to dispense with the services of expensive servants and, in many cases, the owner himself does his gardening, where a plot of land is sufficiently small to control. These circumstances have natural re- percussions in housing accommodation
18
General view of Whitley Park Estate
and most often the kitchen and ser- vants' quarters are no longer separate units.
Economic and living conditions have determined the advent of the estate developer, whose importance cannot be over emphasised. His function is to value as nearly as possible the de- mand for a certain type of house in respect of a locality. All the attendant risks of failure are borne by him
and his work must be of a highly
competitive nature if his efforts are to be crowned by success. Housing by trusts or official bodies cannot be put in the same category or subjected to the same classification
as the land developer. There is frequently a thin margin between profit and loss and the very existence and continuance
no
of building upon the private estate basis is conditioned by previous suc- cess and accurate anticipation of the demand. Official building finds one person the loser and the that may happen is an adverse cri- ticism of official policy.
worst
suc-
Whitley Park, owned by Ideal Homes Ltd., who also were the contractors, aptly illustrates a cessful attempt at the reconciliation luxury type of dwelling well of high cost of land together with a within the range of the middle-income group.
1
Briefly the conditions to be satisfied at the outset were:-(a) The plan be sufficiently compact to leave the maximum amount of free garden (b) The plan to be sufficiently spaci- ous to house a normal family with
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER
VOLUME 14, NUMBER 4
Page 20Page 21