W

hen the owner

of this luxurious

condominium unit

bought the apartment, his

intention was for it to be a

weekend retreat. And when it

came to the renovation, not

only was budget not an issue,

Teo Chen Hian, a director

with the Tong Eng Group of

companies, left the planning,

design and choice of furnishings

entirely to Alvin Kwan, creative

director of AKD3SIGN.

His only request was for a

strong, masculine colour palette

• the rest was entrusted to
  Alvin, right down to the display
  of his personal collection of
  artworks and choice of bed
  linen. “The owner gave me free
  rein, and that gave me room

to ‘experiment’ with different

elements and textures,” says

Alvin. “I decided to play around

with wallpapers for the rooms,

not the conventional sort but

something bolder, unexpected

and even fun.”

Originally a four-bedder, the

apartment was reconfigured into

a three-bedder, with two of the

rooms merged to form a junior

suite – a perfect arrangement

for the tenants, an American

couple and their three children.

A second (and smaller) living

area just outside the bedrooms

serves as the “family room” – its

original parquet flooring had

been painstakingly stained

black, in contrast with the

polished marble flooring in the

front part of the home.

above
The attention-
grabbing
wallpaper makes
for a great
conversation
starter. A
treasured
painting from
the landlord’s
personal art
collection
decorates
another wall;
Alvin was tasked
with displaying
the artworks.

right
These metal and
wood shelves
were designed
such that the
component
modules can
be slid out or
separated for
different looks.