PUBLISHED July 3rd, 2020 06:00 am | UPDATED July 22nd, 2024 05:42 pm
House parties are the new night out – at least in our post-pandemic times. And if homes were city hotspots, Redhill condo apartment 1027 Sticks would be at the top of our lust list. Designed by Singapore-based firm UPSTAIRS_, this three-bedroom unit blurs the lines between the chicest of homes and the most intimate of cocktail lounges – the perfect setting for a fun night in.
Neon lights and bold monochromes make for a visual feast in 1027 Sticks, set off by double-height ceilings and an airy feel. To achieve this, the cookie-cutter layout had to be thrown out the window. “We gutted out the entire apartment,” shares Dennis Cheok, head architect and boundary-pusher at UPSTAIRS_. Tasked by newlywed owners Paul and Cheryl to craft larger spaces for entertainment, the UPSTAIRS_ team knocked down most interior walls, creating an open-plan lounge where guests can circulate freely.
At its heart is, of course, the bar – a majestic slab of black marquina marble, which doubles up for everyday use as a kitchen island and dining counter. With such a compact apartment to work with, Dennis explains, multi-functionality was key. Thus, the TV console running the length of the lounge leads a second life as a bench, a cosy spot for guests spilling over from the sofa or the bar. Around this fluid space wraps an avant-garde marvel – 715 grey timber rods arranged into a connective horizontal ‘ribbon’ wall that flows throughout the apartment.
Strategic accents draw your eye upward, heightening the loftiness of the double-volume space. Soaring to the ceiling is a breathtaking seven-meter lattice shelf, built from 312 black rods stacked in sharp geometries (if you’re doing some quick math, yes: 312 + 715 = 1027 sticks). Suspended light tubes illuminate the way up to a loft, clad in perforated steel mesh – Paul’s tranquil personal hideaway for work and gaming.
Hands down the most striking touch, though, has to be the neon-lit ‘love letter’ from Paul to Cheryl. Floating above the lounge like a love high, it illuminates his heartfelt confession: You are my… obsession. “We did suggest illuminating the words in an assortment of neon colours, so that they could be switched up from time to time,” Dennis laughs. “Paul made the call to keep a singular word and colour – perhaps a reflection of how ‘obsessed’ he is with his bride!”
Given that entertaining takes centre stage in this home, it’s no surprise that the bathroom is quite the showstopper. Set at the end of a rod-lined corridor, the powder room is dressed to impress in a swanky palette of stone greys and rose hues. Though clad in pebblewash, a pink-tinted light diffuser turns the monochrome space welcoming – or, as Dennis puts it, “flirtatious”. The shower is cleverly concealed behind grey-tinted glass doors, only to be revealed for the occasional overnight guest.
If you’re lucky, you might get a glimpse into the inner sanctum of the home – and it’s certainly worth a peek. Like Narnia, you enter it through a walk-in wardrobe that gleams with mirrors, enhancing a sense of movement and transition from social to private space.
In the master bedroom, too, fluidity is the name of the game. Reconfigured from two smaller bedrooms, the suite can form a spacious whole, or be sectioned off into a study via sliding glass doors. The bed platform undulates to form a dresser table, and behind it stretches a bespoke ombré watercolour print – a striking bedhead which doubles up as a storage wall.
You can’t miss the sawn-trunk beside table suspended from the ceiling either. So solid and heavy that it needs steel cables to hold it up, this raw wood slab is a surprise pop of nature in a sleekly modern space. But of course, nothing about this surprising home can be safely called conventional.
1027 Sticks is located at The Crest, Prince Charles Crescent, Singapore. Check out more of UPSTAIRS_’ projects here.
All images courtesy of UPSTAIRS_