Nim Collection: Capitalising on air, light and space in design
By Cecilia Chow
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Nim Collection, a project with 98 houses by Singapore-listed Bukit Sembawang Estates, won the coveted Top Landed Housing Development award at the EdgeProp Excellence Awards 2020.
Located on Nim Road, off Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, the first phase of 47 houses is fully sold and completed in 2Q2020. The second phase of 51 houses was completed in 3Q2019 and 49 have already been snapped up. Only a corner terraced house and a detached house are still available.
Given the strong demand, a third phase of 132 houses is slated for launch next year. Jenny Ho, Bukit Sembawang Estates’ general manager (marketing), attributes the project’s success to a multitude of factors, including the “first-of-its-kind design”.
The first phase of Nim Collection is fully sold, and only a corner terraced house and detached house are still available in the second phase (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
‘Envelope control’
Designed by Singapore President’s Design Award winner, Mok Wei Wei of W Architects, Nim Collection was among the first projects to adopt URA’s envelope control scheme for landed housing developments introduced in 2015.
The scheme gave architects greater latitude in configuring the interior spaces of a house, hence W Architects was able to vary the spatial heights and volumes to create a distinctive three- and four-storey, tiered façade for the terraced houses at Nim Collection. This in turn opened up multiple views and connections to the outdoors on different levels, without compromising on the usability of the interior spaces.
W Architects also capitalised on the URA guideline allowing the rooftop of the car porch to be used as a roof terrace. Hence, each house at Nim Collection has two roof terraces: one above the car porch and the other at the attic on the fourth level.
The living and dining area on the first level of each house has double-volume ceiling height (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
The living and dining area on the first level of each house has double-volume ceiling height. In most typical terraced houses, the granny room or guest room is either at the basement level or the rear end of the first level, together with the utility area. However, at Nim Collection, it sits on the mezzanine level, with a bridge leading to the roof terrace above the car porch.
The master suite and a second en suite bedroom on the second level each have a courtyard, which brings natural light and cross-ventilation. Two additional en suite bedrooms are on the third level, which has an air well with a view of the courtyard garden below.
‘Work of art’
W Architects incorporated sustainable and passive design features into its design. All the terraced houses at Nim Collection have been designed with a north-south orientation. Besides maximising cross-ventilation and natural light, it resulted in interesting iterations to the façade of the terraced houses. “Great design doesn’t require fanciful materials,” says W Architect’s Mok.
Solar panels were incorporated to help reduce electricity consumption, while supporting a clean and green environment. The homes come with water- and energy-efficient fittings. Sustainable materials and construction methods were used. Each car porch is fitted with charging points for electric cars.
All bedrooms come with en suite bathrooms (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Ong Choon Fah, CEO of Edmund Tie, who is part of the judging panel for the EdgeProp Excellence Awards 2020, proclaims Nim Collection to be “a work of art”. She says: “The way Mok Wei Wei designed the houses allows a lot of natural light in and cross-ventilation through all the different floors of the house.”
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Each terraced house has a floor area of more than 4,000 sq ft, which is sizeable for such a house, adds Ong. “There are many different places within the house that you can work from and enjoy the different views as well as outdoor spaces.” The availability of such spaces within one’s home has become something that people value during this Covid era, she observes.
Ong also appreciates the level of detailing that went into the homes, for instance, the balustrades which give “a nostalgic feel”. The way the staircase has been configured, which is very open, allows family members to communicate with each other regardless of which level of the house they are in, she adds.
The staircase balustrade gives a "nostalgic feel" (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
A 100m linear park, called Nim Meadow Park, acts as a green buffer between the development and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5. The park is linked to the Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 park connector, which has walking and cycling trails towards Punggol Park and Punggol Waterway in the northeast region.
When viewed from the park, the houses have a nice geometric design — even from the rear, notes Ong. “The design of the houses is respectful of the community.”
Legacy land bank
The fact that the houses in the Nim Road area are 99-year leasehold was not a deter- rent. According to Bukit Sembawang’s Ho, about 68% of the buyers at Nim Collection are Singaporeans between the ages of 41 and 60. About 40% of the buyers were those who already live in the neighbouring districts and are familiar with the area, she adds. “Our buyers are discerning individuals who are well-travelled and seek the finest in luxury landed living.”
Nim Collection in the Nim Road area sits on Bukit Sembawang’s legacy land bank (Photo: Bukit Sembawang Estates)
Another attraction for home buyers was the scarcity of landed homes. According to Ho, they make up just 5% of the overall Singapore housing stock.
Nim Collection in the Nim Road area sits on Bukit Sembawang’s legacy land bank. The firm had its origins in 1911 as a rubber plantation company before establishing itself as a landed housing property developer in the Seletar and Sembawang area in the 1950s.
Additional landbanks of 48,857 sq m (525,911 sq ft) and 19,094 sq m (205,534 sq ft) in the Nim area have been earmarked for future development in subsequent phases.
At Nim Meadow Park is a little plaque with a big rubber tyre, which gives residents a sense of its heritage — that it was once a rubber plantation. “This gives people a sense of place, and an appreciation of their home,” says Edmund Tie’s Ong.
Indeed, the homes at Nim Collection ap- peal to “the modern homeowner’s appetite for unique architectural design, bold configuration of interior spaces, and exclusive lifestyle that resonates beyond the 99-year tenure of the development”, says Bukit Sembawang’s Ho.
Check out the latest listings near: Nim Collection, Nim Road, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, Luxus Hills, Seletar, Sembawang
For price trends, recent transactions, other project info, check out these projects' research page: Luxus Hills, Seletar, Sembawang
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