Kevin Tan, a 1990 graduate of the School of Architecture at the National University of Singapore, is a gifted designer. He had his training at a time when the department was nurturing a specially talented cohort of students. He gained experience of international practice with Llewelyn Davies (now Llewelyn Davies Yeang) in London and P&T (formerly Palmer and Turner) in Hong Kong. In his final year, his tutor was the author of this book, to whom he attributes an appreciation of design in the urban context. He also gained insights from the Thai architect Mathar Bunnag,1 who taught him ‘to think out of the box and return to first principles’, and warmed to the environmental consciousness of Dr Suthipanth Sujarittanonta, another Thai academic teaching at the National 2 University of Singapore. Tan had the immense good fortune to come under the influence and guiding hand of Ernesto Bedmar, who was at that time an external tutor in the School of Architecture. Soon after graduating in 1990, Tan joined the Argentine-born Bedmar’s design-orientated practice and honed his compositional skills under the architect’s mentorship before leaving some ten years later, in 2001, to set up his own firm. Tan frequently refers to the influence on his work of the early modern masters, perhaps to distance himself from any nostalgic references to tradition and possibly to affirm, as with most Singaporeans born after independence was achieved in 1965, that he is of a generation with little attachment to the past and who are generally orientated towards a future with a global outlook. He insists that his designs have always been ‘pure modernism’ and that he has ‘never wished to indulge in vernacular tradition’. Tan lists his primary influences as the early modern masters, particularly Louis Kahn for the timelessness and serenity that he brings to his buildings. He also admires a number of contemporary architects, including Norman Foster for the clarity he brings to his work, Renzo Piano for his craftsmanship and Herzog & de Meuron for their freshness and bravado. Tan combines a ready charm with candour, which enables him to relate well to his clients. Like many architects of his generation, he is in a hurry and his success has bred an aura of confidence. ‘I believe there is a real and practical brief for each house,’ says Tan. ‘There is also an invisible brief which comes through conversations and observations. I have been fortunate to encapsulate this unspoken brief sometimes more successfully than others.’ The Cluny Hill House is unashamedly modern, employing masonry, metal and glass cladding on a concrete frame in a strictly orthogonal composition. The L-shaped ground floor is remarkably transparent, with living and dining spaces that face south to embrace a swimming pool. The house is located close to the summit of Cluny Hill and entry is from the east directly into a paved vehicle court. Vehicles sweep down into a basement car park where visitors alight. They first view the house reflected in the pool and then turn north to ascend a short flight of steps to a square portico.
Above Beneath the master bedroom suite is a shaded deck surrounded on three sides by water.
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