Upon walking into the driveway of this family home, one of the first things you’ll notice is an abundance of greenery. Visitors will see an array of tropical plants, each personally selected and planted by the homeowner around the property. Patrick Khoo not only has a green thumb, his passion for landscaping also meant that he saw to the design as well as the curation of every leafy detail within his family home at Chestnut Crescent. “I’ve always loved greenery and I have an interest in gardening and landscaping,” explains the businessman, who lives in the 12,300-sqft property with his wife and four children. “The trees also provide some shade from the sun, while keeping our home comfortably cool.”
The flourishing foliage complements the resort-themed interiors, creating a bright and welcoming abode for the family. Terri Tan, design director of Designworx Interior Consultant, was tasked with crafting interiors inspired by nature. “The owner favours natural materials, and he stressed that the overall look of the home needed to be bright and inviting. Based on that brief, we felt that resort-style interiors would work best for this project,” explains the designer. She adds, “We didn’t know about his hidden landscape talent until we visited him shortly after he settled into his new home. We were so surprised by how well it complemented the interiors. He shared with us that he was glad to find a local nursery that could supply the plants for the landscaping ideas he wanted to create.”
With a generous built-up area of 11,800sqft, the three-storey home features a total of nine rooms, including a gym room and a study on the top floor. The design firm was involved with the new-build bungalow project from its early days, and had discussed the layout with the architects and builders of
GK Architects to meet the feng shui requirements of the spacious abode. “The bed orientations for the various rooms were predetermined after a consultation with the feng shui master, so we had to plan the bedrooms based on that,” says Tan.
Laid-Back Luxury
To create a relaxing yet luxurious resort ambience, the design team made sure to use as many of the nature-derived materials as possible for the surfaces and flooring. “We used natural materials such as marble, onyx, granite, ebony and walnut wood wherever possible—nothing beats these when it comes to giving a home the modern-luxe resort look,” says Tan. The team made several trips with the owner to pick out slabs of marble and other stone surfaces. In particular, the Portoro Gold marble (a black marble with bold veins of gold and cream) was so favoured by that it was also used for the custom-made dining table in the living room. In shared spaces such as the living and lounge areas, the team selected a neutral palette to create warm, cosy communal spaces for the family.
On top of that, the designer opted for a careful curation of decorative pieces, as well as a judicious use of gilded details to keep the interiors refined and elegant. For instance, gold leaf detailing on the television console, shelves, drawers and some furniture pieces adds a touch of glamour to the rooms without looking ostentatious. Each section of the home contains just one or two statement-making pieces, such as the grand chandeliers by the stairwell or the striking gold apple sculpture from Bull & Stein next to the grand piano. The apple sculpture became such a hit with the family that the owner began acquiring more fruit-themed pieces for other sections of the home.
Lighting and lamps picked for the home were deliberately kept minimalist and functional, aside from the grand chandeliers at double-volume spaces. In keeping with the resort-like ambience, rooms and shared spaces were fitted with ceiling fans, which also give the family the option of going without air-conditioning on cooler days. Another eco-conscious detail is the use of low-emissivity glazing for all windows, which improves the thermal efficiency of the bungalow while reducing unwanted glare from the sun.