Singapore Residence by Neri&Hu: Modern Courtyard Living Meets Heritage Memory

Neri&Hu Design and Research Office reimagines the traditional Chinese courtyard house, or siheyuan, blending communal living, heritage memory, and contemporary design for a Singaporean family residence. Inspired by Confucian ideals of extended-family cohabitation, the architects were tasked with creating a home for three adult siblings on the footprint of their childhood bungalow. Central to the project is a memorial garden honoring their late mother, while preserving the pitched-roof silhouette that marked their early home.

The original site featured a British colonial bungalow infused with Malay architectural elements, deep roof eaves for tropical shelter and Victorian details, creating a hybrid vernacular. Neri&Hu honor this history by retaining the pitched-roof form, translating it into a modern courtyard layout where spatial and emotional continuity coexist.

The two-story design organizes communal spaces: living room, dining, open kitchen, and study, around a central courtyard memorial garden. Expansive glass walls maximize visual transparency and indoor-outdoor connectivity, offering serene views of perimeter gardens while fostering privacy within the dense vegetation. Sliding doors enable cross ventilation and seamless garden access, integrating climate-responsive strategies with human-centered design.

On the upper level, private bedrooms are housed beneath steep gables, preserving the appearance of a single-story pitched-roof bungalow externally. Skylights and glazed balconies frame views of the surrounding greenery, while three double-height spaces create vertical visual connections, linking private and public realms through subtle interpenetration.

Architecturally, Neri&Hu introduce a carved roof void framing a small tree leading to the central memorial garden, while exterior walls transition from smooth to board-formed concrete, echoing wooden textures. Circular circulation paths define the ambulatory experience, symbolically reinforcing the home’s central garden as the spiritual and social heart. This design balances heritage, family memory, and modern living in a seamless, tranquil environment.

All photographs are works of  Fabian Ong