d+a | Issue 116 • Jun/July 2020

63 H aving completed 118 residential projects in Southeast Asia and won plenty of awards since its establishment in 2003, it is fair to say that RT+Q Architects has mastered the art of modern tropical houses. The firm has also developed a distinct design language and an extensive lexicon of details. “We are continuously refining and tweaking them to suit each unique project,” says RT+Q co-founder Rene Tan. Refined is an apt word to describe its latest project, House of Harmony. The two-storey-plus-attic home is RT+Q’s latest exploration of the modernist barn form. RATIONAL AND COMPACT Located on a slope, the site was originally split into two levels. Tan decided to even them out so the house can enjoy a seamless spatial flow. Sitting 1m above the main street level, the new home paints an elegant proportion in the neighbourhood with its pitched metal roof. “The clients’ brief requested a very rational and compact house, which translated to straightforward zoning,” says Koh Sock Mui, Associate Architect at RT+Q, who helmed the project. “The beauty of the house is in the articulation of the details,” she adds. It has an L-shaped plan and is home to a family of four. The first floor comprises 1