House at Mayflower Avenue
Unlike a typical residence, this house evokes a dreamscape that seems to transcend time, as if secret passageways or hidden worlds might be discovered within its vaulted openings. Located on Mayflower Avenue in Singapore, the dwelling distinguishes itself through a sequence of interlocking barrel vaults, adding an unexpected sense of elegance to the streetscape. MAKK Architects skillfully introduced the arched vocabulary of historic churches and civic architecture into a domestic context, subverting the conventional rectilinear massing of urban housing and giving the architecture a fresh visual intensity.
The design begins not with a fixed formal expression, but with the daily lives and interactions of its occupants. It was conceived to embrace the diverse routines of a three-generation household of seven. The challenge lay in how to create a spatial framework that is both enduring and adaptable—one that sustains a sense of exploration and delight, and can evolve as the children grow while leaving room for future transformation.
Instead of employing a single continuous vault, the architects interlocked multiple vaulted forms, sliding and offsetting them along the Y and Z axes to generate new spatial typologies. The negative volumes at their intersections gave rise to what the architects describe as “new spaces,” where unforeseen functions emerged. From these overlaps arose skylights, mezzanines, reading platforms, and passageways, while other residual areas were transformed into moments of quiet delight.
Inside, the vaulted surfaces unfold with a rhythmic quality, their curvatures producing subtle variations in ceiling height and shaping a fluid spatial sequence. Daylight enters through skylights and lateral windows, shifting across the curved surfaces throughout the day to create a delicate play of light and shadow. At the same time, the house responds to the tropical climate by integrating natural ventilation and sun-shading devices to mitigate the afternoon heat, allowing the architecture to remain in conversation with its environment.
The exterior façade, finished in a restrained grey palette with Shanghai plaster and articulated by linear arches, gains sculptural depth at night as light accentuates the interlocking vaults. Their overlapping profiles resemble waves momentarily stilled along the street, translating a solemn architectural vocabulary into a residence whose rhythmic forms convey serenity and quiet elegance.
Principal Designer | Lee May Anne
Collaborating Designer(s) / Builder | Cubic Deco Pte Ltd, PTS Consultants
Character of Space | Interlocking barrel vaulted spaces
Materials | Shanghai plaster on cast concrete, Volakas marble, granite slabs, Accoya timber decking, Burmese Teak
Location | Singapore
Gross Floor Area | 626㎡
