Singapore’s Public Housing Gets Open-Plan Makeover as Design Tastes Shift
Larger living rooms and fewer bedrooms are some of the trends among younger owners of so-called HDB flats, reflecting changing demographic and economic trends.
An artist’s impression of a possible design option for Singapore’s new HDB “White Flats.”
Source: Housing and Development Board
For six decades, Singapore’s public housing system has delivered standardized, affordable housing to millions of citizens. But in the face of changing social trends and rising affluence, the country is now allowing homebuyers to have more flexibility in their designs.
The Housing and Development Board will pilot a new layout in October with 310 units of three- and four-bedrooms apartments in central Singapore’s Kallang-Whampoa district. The homes will have a contiguous living and bedroom space, with structural columns rotated and tucked to the edges. There will also be no internal partition walls.