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mr funny
21-09-10, 00:01
http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_579499.html

Sep 17, 2010

Pilot test for landed home designs

URA guidelines to give architects more leeway at Sembawang parcels

By Joyce Teo


DEVELOPERS will be given more flexibility in the design of landed homes at a new development site in Sembawang.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is testing new guidelines at nine landed home parcels near Sembawang beach that could yield 57 units.

If the pilot test works out, URA said it might consider extending the guidelines to other locations.

Architects will gain more leeway in terms of the building's interior dimensions, although the overall external size must still follow fixed guidelines.

For instance, existing floor-to-floor guidelines for the sites will be relaxed so that homes built there can include four storeys.

Currently, the limit is three.

Other options include loftier living rooms and more compact bedrooms.

The sites are among 14 parcels at Phase Three of the new Sembawang Greenvale estate to be put up for auction on Oct 28, said URA.

They include individual bungalow lots, small parcels of four to 17 lots for terrace and semi-detached homes, and one parcel for strata housing. Individuals and small developers will be able to bid.

Under the new guidelines, part of the envelope control approach, URA will fix only the overall size of the house and do away with guidelines on internal features.

Thus, while the Greenvale site will still be designated a three-storey development under the new guidelines, there will be room for more creative layering of the floors within each house, URA said.

It said the guidelines would allow greater variety in designs for landed homes while keeping them in line with surrounding houses in terms of size and scale.

The changes followed a focus group consultation involving both landed house owners and industry professionals.

As one participant noted, individuality is hard to come by when there are more micro controls. Mr Tai Lee Siang, architecture firm Ong & Ong's group managing director designate, said: 'Every house ends up looking the same.'

W Architects managing director Mok Wei Wei said homes could have basements with higher protrusions above ground level, to let more light in.

Said Jones Lang LaSalle's head of Southeast Asia research, Dr Chua Yang Liang: 'Developers are always under pressure to maximise site use given high land prices. Still, their products must appeal to consumers. For example, people today like a large family entertainment area.'

Prices of the land parcels involved might rise later, but developers are unlikely to factor that in now as they need time to digest the guidelines, Dr Chua noted.

He felt the terrace plots could draw bids of $420 to $450 per sq ft (psf), and the bungalow and semi-detached plots, $200 to $350 psf. Another expert thought bids would reach only $150 to $240 psf.

Yesterday, URA also made available for sale a housing plot at Stirling Road that can yield about 445 housing units.

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Specific guidelines

UNDER current guidelines, landed homes are limited to three storeys.

There are guidelines on specific features. For instance, height is fixed at 4.5m for the first storey and 3.6m for the second and third storeys.

The floor to roof height of the attic space cannot exceed 5m at any point. The basement cannot protrude more than 1m above ground level if it is not to be regarded as a storey.


Flexi space use

UNDER new test guidelines, only the overall envelope, or size of the development, is fixed.

There are no guidelines on specific features such as floor-to-floor height and attic space. Instead, an overall volume approach is used, allowing for more lofty spaces in certain parts of the house such as the living room and more compact spaces elsewhere in places such as the study room.

mr funny
21-09-10, 00:29
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,404399-1284753540,00.html?

Published September 17, 2010

Landed homes get new profile in pilot project

New approach allows for more flexibility in how they are built

By KALPANA RASHIWALA


(SINGAPORE) The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is conducting a pilot project of modified guidelines that will allow more creative designs for landed homes.

The guidelines will apply to nine landed housing plots it will auction next month under Sembawang Greenvale Phase 3.

The guidelines do away with some of the current 'micro controls' such as the attic profile, floor-to- floor height and basement protrusions. Instead, it will merely control the envelop or the overall bulk of the house.

One fallout though is that the overall height limit of a three-storey house under the new approach is lower than under the old guidelines.

Singapore's planning authority said the new approach will give architects greater freedom to propose a variety of layouts and designs as long as the proposal is generally compatible with surrounding three-storey houses. For instance, one can propose more lofty spaces in certain parts of the house such as the living room and master bedroom in front, and have more compact spaces elsewhere - say, the study room or bedroom at the rear.

W Architects managing director Mok Wei Wei welcomed the new approach: 'It takes care of the big picture by controlling the envelop; in other words, the building shouldn't be bigger than what it should be. But within that, it relaxes some of the earlier controls like the maximum storey height. Under existing guidelines, the first storey has a maximum height of 4.5 metres, and the second and third storeys, 3.6 metres each.

'But now this maximum storey height control is removed. So it means you have a freer volumetric play of the space, while still allowing you to achieve the same overall built-up area as before. That's the greatest advantage.'

There is still a control of minimum storey height, so the minimum habitable standard is not sacrificed, he noted.

For a landed housing estate like Sembawang Greenvale, under the existing rules, one could stretch the total building height upto 17.7 metres for a three-storey house with an attic and a basement.

But under the envelop control approach - with an overall height of 15.5 metres, inclusive of the top 3.5 metres set back from the front and rear building facade - one can design a four-storey building and still have an attic and basement for the part of the house that one does not mind being compacted, Mr Mok says.

The 15.5-metre height limit is well calibrated to ensure excessive stories are not inserted within the new envelop that could lead to, for instance, a six-storey house. The proposed envelop height limit - which is based on dimensions of a typical three-storey house, says URA - will help address concerns that a house could resemble a flat if a 17.7-metre height limit were to be allowed.

The envelop control approach also does away with the existing control that the basement may protrude only upto one metre above the ground. The new approach allows a basement that is less deep and hence protrudes more above ground, which should result in cost savings for the owner.

URA's spokeswoman said that if the pilot project at Sembawang Greenvale is successful, the authority may consider extending the envelop control guidelines to landed housing developments in other locations or types of works such as additions and alterations of existing landed property.

The envelop control approach was the result of feedback during URA's Focus Group consultation exercise on landed housing in late 2007.

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