Beyond the bamboo curtain

THE first thing one notices about architect Sim Boon Yang's new house is the bamboo curtain strung across the facade - a row of large bamboo poles, cut to length, attached with hooks and hung individually from the ceiling on stainless steel wires to form a screen with a definite difference.

Using a traditional material in its natural form and making it a primary feature in a modern home is a bold - even radical - move, but one that has proved to be practical and effective.

The recently completed house, on an elevated plot in the Upper Thomson Road area, stands out in more ways than one compared to many of its older, single-storey neighbours. With its clean, contemporary lines, the home is basically a rectangular box made from concrete slabs and large glass panels.

It is a building with a simplified form and an undeniably Modernist intent, yet - thanks in part to those bamboo tubes and a natural approach to landscaping - it is in sync with its tropical environment.

Sim, a founding partner of Eco.id Architects, moved in with his wife and three children a few months ago. He says the 464.5 sq m residence was designed around the notion of an open plan home and as simple a structure as possible, with logical layouts designed to suit the family's lifestyle and take advantage of the wide frontage and forward-facing views.

A basic box structure was divided into four equal bays, with four bedrooms on the second level, above a living and dining area that opens out to a swimming pool, and a separate guest room next to an entry staircase from the street-level car park below, which comes with an attached workshop where Sim, an avid sportsman and keen auto mechanic who once drove a Land Rover from London to Singapore, stores his diving and kite-boarding equipment as well as a full complement of motoring tools.

The rear of the house features a dramatic 6-m high internal wall finished (or unfinished, as the case may be) in off-form concrete and helping to create a corridor-cum-courtyard, with links to the bedrooms and a bookcase against an opposite wall.

On sunny days, natural light streams in through a horizontal glass slot below the metal roof to create a play of light and shadow along the double-height wall. Atop the entire "box" there is an attic and terrace, which provides panoramic views over the entire neighbourhood and beyond.

In addition to the views, the design takes full advantage of the breezes that flow through on a regular basis. Sim recalls a particularly windy day soon after he moved in when neighbours called to inform him that "something was loose" and that strange noises were emitting from his home. It turned out to be the sound of the bamboo blowing in the wind - call it an Early Warning Weather System, or the ultimate in wind chimes.

All the bamboo was sourced from a plantation in Java, then cut to size and soaked in boric acid to prevent insect infestation. Holes were drilled at one end for the hooks and, in a twist on the concept of do-it-yourself home improvement, Sim and his two sons hung all the bamboo themselves. It was easy enough to do and it works extremely well, he says. "It's just hanging a natural object in the simplest way possible," he says.

In one respect, the bamboo serves as one layer between the home and the outside world. "It makes the facade move and reacts to the breeze," says Mr Sim. "There is a visual quality to it and also an audio quality when it makes a noise in heavier winds - it feels like you're in a bamboo forest."

The bamboo, the textured grey walls and ceilings and other materials such as black granite and smoked oak floors that are a soft contrast to the more masculine concrete, evoke a sense of cool and calm throughout.

The master bathroom, which is open-air in one corner, features a curtain of black bamboo, much darker and smaller in diameter than the regular bamboo used in the front of the house. The curtain motif is repeated with hanging plants on a "green" exterior wall next to the open kitchen.

The interiors are decorated with reupholstered furniture from the family's previous homes - including a shophouse and a townhouse - while the small gallery-like spaces throughout are used to display art and artefacts from Sim's travels to some of the more exotic destinations in the region.

There are tribal canoe paddles and delicate bags made from bird feathers, both from Irian Jaya, as well as antique wood and stone carvings, a variety of animal skulls and a painted Tibetan tiger door that greets visitors at the entrance.

The house was a nice respite from the larger projects that he normally works on, says Sim, whose firm has built its reputation on sleek, stylish resorts and residential buildings throughout the region. Construction took about 14 months and the home is still a work in progress because the trees and grasses planted have yet to mature and grow tall enough to serve as natural privacy screens. The grasses are robust and move languidly in a breeze too, he says.

Meanwhile, the building itself is formulated around the concept of purity in design. "The shape of the house derives from the rationalisation process - making the best use of the land and letting the aesthetics flow from there," says Mr Sim.

"The idea was to build as simply as possible. I had no doubt about the bamboo because it is so simple - of all the intricate screens I've designed, it is my favourite because of the impact and effect-versus-simplicity."

The bamboo might look radical in this context but it is a logical fit, he says. "What got me excited was that I could combine the idea of a bamboo curtain with the style of architecture - the combination of material and structure came together in a pleasing way." He adds, "This is applied in an urban setting. The idea came effortlessly and I wanted the house to look effortless and not contrived in its execution."

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