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PROJECT GROWING UP - THE MAN FOR THE JOB

The Man For the Job

Mr Y is a story-teller. He punctuates almost every point he makes about design with an anecdote related to his projects. As he speaks, his bright eyes twinkle and his hand works furiously across sheets of paper making sketches appear on the white canvas.

A meeting with Mr Y is akin to a private tutorial session on architecture and design 101. At this stage, he is only interested in our budget, based on $x per square foot of additional gross floor area up to the maximum allowed by the authorities; and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms on each floor. In our neighbourhood, we are allowed to build up to 2 storeys high. We learn that an attic and basement does not count as contributing to a "storey". On the downside, we will be affected by the compulsory erection of a bomb shelter, which, true to its name, will cost quite a bomb!

We also learn the literal meaning of "setbacks" - building restrictions imposed on property owners. These apply to the front, back and on both sides of the house, and are non-negotiable. URA has come up with an interactive e-advisor to help the home-builder to navigate the "what can be done" and the "what-nots" in a project. ( http://www.ura.gov.sg/dc/e-advisor/index.html )

Back to Mr Y. He stressed 3 fundamental aspects of house design:
- airflow
- natural light
- orientation ( for a front to back; or sometimes bottom to top, unblocked view, to create an illusion of bigger space )

At one point, I interjected " What about the aesthetics of the design, colour schemes, materials...?" He responded with the sagely manner of someone connecting with the younger set " that will come only much later.., as this is part of the micro-design..." 

In the same vein, he commented on a wish-list which I sent him earlier and said that he would only look at it during the "micro-design" stage. In a scenario like this, I can only manage a bemused smile, thinking of the so-called award-winning projects which I had googled, which seems to smack more of the qualified person's personal idiosyncracies, than of a liveable home, albeit at a phenomenal price-tag. I choose to go with Mr Y on this tack for now...

From this point on, submissions will go out to the authorities for planning approval, topographical survey, legal requisitions, which will take 4 - 8 weeks. I will not remain idle during this period, but will be fully occupied with scouring the libraries and web-sites for design ideas, in preparation for the "micro-design" stage.



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