Location: Singapore

Architects: Ming Architects

Area: 900 m²

Year: 2024

Lead Architect: Tan Cher Ming

Project Architect: Erica Chan

Photography: Studio Periphery

Design Features: Glade House occupies a broad, level plot in central Singapore, edged by mature rain trees that form a green perimeter. It was designed for three generations of one family, including three children and an elderly grandmother. The brief called for distinct personal territories as well as generous settings for shared meals, study, play and swimming. Rather than closing the house against its exposed street frontage, Ming Architects uses layered facades, garden and water to create a gradual threshold between public view and domestic life.

A 25 m lap pool establishes the plan. To accommodate its non-negotiable length without surrendering the garden or the main living spaces, the house adopts an L-shaped arrangement. The shorter wing runs along the street as a buffer against noise and passing views; the longer wing reaches towards the rear, cradling the pool and lawn between them. At the far end, the water turns around the dining room and dry kitchen, becoming more than a recreational amenity. Reflection, sound and moving air remain present throughout everyday life.

Arrival follows two distinct routes. A ramp from the car porch turns around the front wing before revealing the pool, garden and double-height living areas as one panorama. The main door offers a more vertical sequence, beginning in a two-storey foyer with a concealed wine cellar and the grandmother's suite to either side. A short passage then draws the eye towards the water. Along the living room, a sculptural oak stair rises through three levels, while an open study overlooks the shared spaces so family members can remain connected without occupying the same room.

Sliding aluminium screens and deep roof overhangs form the house's principal tropical response. The screens adjust privacy, sun and views along the street; generous eaves allow doors and windows to stay open during intense sunlight and monsoon rain. Broad sliding glass panels towards the pool and garden support cross-ventilation. The house therefore avoids the sealed character of a permanently air-conditioned glass box, using shade, operable boundaries, air movement and ceiling fans to keep its relationship with the outdoors active.

Material choices give this climatic framework a quiet warmth. Bulgarian limestone lends the exterior tactile solidity, while oak panelling moves from outside to living spaces, stairs and bedrooms. Black aluminium screens provide a light metallic counterpoint. Desert-beige marble keeps the interior luminous, and Verde Alpi marble in the dry kitchen answers the surrounding foliage with a darker green note. The name Glade House refers to a clearing in a forest: mature trees are not a backdrop here, but part of the shared centre formed by pool, garden and framed canopy views.

Design Team: Ming Architects was founded in Singapore by Tan Cher Ming in 2015 and specialises in the architecture and interiors of contemporary landed houses. Tan graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2007 and spent close to a decade with established Singapore practices including Arc Studio, SCDA Architects and WOHA Architects before establishing his own studio, building experience across residential architecture, interiors and tropical design.

The practice treats architecture and interior design as one continuous discipline, shaping each house around its particular site, family structure and routines. Across its work, generous daylight, natural ventilation, framed greenery and restrained tactile materials recur as organising concerns. Voids, courtyards, skylights and operable facades adapt the clarity of contemporary forms to Singapore's tropical climate.

Tan is a registered architect in Singapore and a member of the Singapore Institute of Architects, and remains personally involved from early concept sketches through delivery. He led Glade House with Erica Chan as project architect. The house received a Platinum award at the 2025 International Excellence Awards and Gold awards for residential design at the ADC Awards and Houzee Awards. The studio had previously received the 2022 Singapore Tatler Homes Design Award for Best Architectural Concept for Carve House.