Compact Apartment in Singapore by Open Studio.

Open Studio have created a new outlook for this compact apartment in Bidadari, Singapore. The 65sqm interior was given a minimal but punchy makeover with a strategic reflective insertion that combats the space’s claustrophobic nature.

Designed for a young couple with two dogs, the apartment was decompartmentalised to open the space for more practical use. Finishes are used to address the site’s constraints and enhance the feeling of spaciousness within the small apartment.

Engulfed in the heart of a public housing development, views from the home were limited to neighbouring blocks and landscaped public grounds below. The lack of a long, outward view combined with pokey rooms only exacerbated the sense of confinement.

Open Studio reorganised the interior to create a new view, disregarding the surroundings and looking inwards. A rose gold mirror insertion in the centre of the apartment serves to reflect colourful scenes of daily life around the home.

Offering an illusion of expansion, the insertion erected out of nowhere as a makeshift wall has the added bonus of fulfilling the much needed storage requirements. Complemented by a minimal palette, the walls fade away, leaving the focus on the activities — and pooches — in and around the flat.

Bright and open with a raised ceiling, the living space keeps things simple. A Gubi lamp sits on a large wooden table and a sofa upholstered in a cream bouclé sits alongside Faye Toogood’s Roly-Poly chair. With furniture used sparingly, the room feels comfortably spacious.

At night, the living room’s pink micro cement floor and thick rose curtains combine with the rose-gold mirror to form a warm and cosy setting that separates it from the utilitarian kitchen with stainless steel fronts and terrazzo flooring. Transitioning into the private areas a walk-in wardrobe cocoons with timber veneer walls.

In this modest three-room flat, shifting the perspective has never seemed so easy.

Related: Bold & Intuitive: Compact Apartment in Katowice by Mistovia Studio.

[Images courtesy of Open Studio. Photography by Khoo Guo Jie.]