Housing is one of the necessities in a small Singapore. The most common type of housing found in Singapore is public housing commonly known as HDB with leasing. As the 1st generation public housing flats near the halfway mark of their 99-year leases, owners grapple with the fear that what once seemed an astute investment now seems doomed to depreciation. Fearing is left between them to buy a new home.

ph-PL is an urban housing concept that proposes modular unit of houses to slot into standard pre-build modular structure. With housing units in modules, the owners are able to move their housing unit to a different site with standard pre-build structure. For example, the standardised pre-build structure which the housing unit can slot into can be built between empty lot in the city area, underneath MRT railway or highway etc. Steel is chosen as the main structure component for the standardised pre-build modular structure to house the housing unit as it is modular yet flexible and fast in erection. In addition, steel allows a high degree of re-usability if the structure is to be removed.

The public housing authority is tasked with providing the land and standard pre-build modular structure for the owners/citizens to rent and “slot” in their housing units. This allows the state to claim back the land when the lease is up but minimized perceived lost for the owners/citizen as their housing unit can be shifted to a new site with the pre-build modular structure. The state has the ability to re-zone land use and density while the ownership of the housing unit remains with the owners/citizen perpetually creating a win-win situation for all parties.

VOLZERO: MICRO HOUSING 2019 Competition

A new concept of public housing in Singapore

ph-PL