Cover The living room of this Melaka home has a corner sofa set among glazed courtyards, with tree ferns visible through the surrounding windows
The living room of this Melaka home has a corner sofa set among glazed courtyards, with tree ferns visible through the surrounding windows
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In this Melaka home, Pins Design Studio arranges family life around a Syzygium Spicata tree, off-form concrete and richly patterned marble
At a corner-lot house in Melaka, Wei Hong Tan and Yew Shin Leong of Pins Design Studio began with a single question: how does a family live, work and play in the same space without those activities crowding one another out? The result, a renovated Melaka home named Habitus, answers with proximity. The children’s study room opens onto a private deck for outdoor play, positioned in full view of the parents’ home office. Upstairs, a walk-in wardrobe connects the bedrooms, functioning as a corridor between them.
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The front façade of Habitus, with its projecting upper storey, brick screen wall and covered car porch
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The clients wanted their children to have unstructured access to the outdoors, so throughout this Melaka home, interior spaces open directly onto landscaped pockets of greenery, with timber finishes carried throughout to reinforce the effect.
Above A detail of the house’s cantilevered concrete eaves, with a rust-red downpipe against a brick lattice wall
Above The timber front door, framed by a young tree and a perforated brick screen at the entrance
A detail of the house’s cantilevered concrete eaves, with a rust-red downpipe against a brick lattice wall
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Above A side courtyard with a multi-trunked tree at its centre, planted in a bed of grass beside a bicycle
A side courtyard with a multi-trunked tree at its centre, planted in a bed of grass beside a bicycle
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The house’s most deliberate gesture is a Syzygium Spicata tree, brought in from Johor and planted at the centre of the plan. Its low, sturdy branches, forking just inches from the ground, were chosen specifically to invite what the designers describe as “risky play,” positioned so that a child climbing it stays visible from the living and dining areas.
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A courtyard tree seen through full-height glazing from the living room, with a figure watering plants beside it
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The rest of the ground floor, including a new extension housing a living area, piano area and guest room, is arranged around it. Off-white walls and soft, filtered light form a settled backdrop for the clients’ collection of hardwood furniture, and offcuts of leftover timber were reworked into smaller pieces, including a stand for potted plants.
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Above A corridor in polished stone and plywood, leading toward a slatted timber canopy and a marble plinth beyond
Above A covered walkway with a timber-slatted ceiling and off-form concrete wall, overlooking a planted courtyard
A corridor in polished stone and plywood, leading toward a slatted timber canopy and a marble plinth beyond
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Above The dining area viewed from the open kitchen, with a marble breakfast bar and floor-to-ceiling glazing onto the garden
The dining area viewed from the open kitchen, with a marble breakfast bar and floor-to-ceiling glazing onto the garden
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Elsewhere in the home, the palette recedes to let marble flooring carry the visual weight, a mix of cloudy grey, ribbon-veined monochrome, dappled beige and brecciated periwinkle. Reconciling the varied patterns and tones with the rest of the décor required some negotiation, the designers said.
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A kitchen in matte grey cabinetry with a stainless steel splashback, gas hob and a birch plywood pantry wall
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Off-form concrete walls extend the raw material language further, though the technique proved difficult to execute consistently; several sections were ultimately painted rather than left exposed. Where it succeeded, as in the gym, the concrete’s vertical grain adds texture to the room, a surface young hands are drawn to touch.
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Above A mudroom wall fitted with a perforated steel panel for storing tennis racquets, caps and bags, above a timber bench
Above A plywood-lined entryway with a potted plant on a carved timber stool, opening onto a louvred window
A mudroom wall fitted with a perforated steel panel for storing tennis racquets, caps and bags, above a timber bench
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Above A steel and timber shelving unit set against a glass-block wall, holding sporting equipment and a clock
Above A built-in home office nook in birch plywood, with a slim desk lamp and a leather task chair
A steel and timber shelving unit set against a glass-block wall, holding sporting equipment and a clock
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This Melaka home also accommodates its owners’ taste for entertaining at scale. A deck runs from the living area to the rear of the property, sheltered by a glass roof braced on black steel beams that cantilever past the deck toward a manicured lawn.
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Above A narrow staircase finished in dark timber treads, framed by plywood-lined walls and lit from above
Above A stairwell in pale plywood, with a rounded timber handrail and a small wall-mounted light fixture
A narrow staircase finished in dark timber treads, framed by plywood-lined walls and lit from above
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Above A hallway in white plaster and timber flooring, with a blue abstract painting and a low wooden bench
A hallway in white plaster and timber flooring, with a blue abstract painting and a low wooden bench
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A second rooftop deck, reached by an exterior staircase, adds further space for guests. That same staircase leads to a new gym, allowing a personal trainer to come and go without passing through the house. The wet kitchen and maid’s room are set apart too, separated from the main house by a glass door but reachable through their own back entrance.
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A bedroom dressing area combining plywood joinery, an open wardrobe niche and a stone-tiled backdrop
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The same steel-framed canopy is seen from the garden, with young trees planted along the deck’s edge
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The car porch, set perpendicular to the outdoor deck, holds four bays and is marked by a second Syzygium Spicata. Its canopy echoes the glass roof over the deck, this time framed by protruding reinforced-concrete beams that appear to hover on slender bronze columns, with a bronze-painted gutter pipe running underneath, doing its best impression of a structural beam.
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Photography: TWJPTO
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Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
