隐居在主干道的角落里，被茂盛的绿色植物包围着，坐落着一种日益稀少和受到威胁的建筑环境，一间私人步行公寓，有空间呼吸，心灵宁静。与当时建造的其他建筑一样，布鲁克维尔公园(Brookvale Park)在规模经济方面兼具实用性，同时保持对其居民生活所需的空间比例和距离的敏感性，而不受城市生活的侵扰性压力。

Tucked away in a corner off the main road, surrounded by lush greenery, sits one of those increasingly rare and threatened species of our built environment, a private walk up apartment with space to breathe and quietude for the soul. Like others built in its era, Brookvale Park combine both a stroke of practicality in its economy of scale, whilst maintaining sensitivity to the spatial proportions and distances that is required for its inhabitants to live life without the intrusive pressures of urbanity.

 © Rupert Singleton

鲁珀特·辛格尔顿

个人住宅单元享受这一罕见的商品，宽敞的阳台，而内部，一种游戏的感觉丰富，因为不同的水平平面分开公共领域和私人。掩盖这套公寓老化的外部存在着一个潜在的复杂的空间，这是我们认识到，在我们寻找一个家几年前。

Individual dwelling units enjoy that rare commodity of a generous span of balcony, whilst internally, a sense of play abounds as different horizontal planes separate the public domain from the private. Belie this apartment’s aging exterior lies a potential sophistication of spaces which we recognised in our search for a home some years back.

在观看了无数不同但相似的曲奇切割公寓布局后，我们立即看到了这个顶层角落公寓的美丽之处。倾斜的屋顶，虽然被虚假的天花板所覆盖，阳光透过侧天窗轻轻地照亮了室内，我们开始把房子雕刻成我们的家。

After viewing countless different yet similar cookie cutter apartment layouts, we instantly saw the possible beauty of this top storey corner apartment. The slanted roof, though covered by the false ceiling, and diffused sunlight through the side skylight gently illuminating the interior, sealed the deal and we set out to sculpt the apartment into our home.

 © Rupert Singleton

鲁珀特·辛格尔顿

展现美

Revealing the beauty

整个原来的天花板被拆除，一系列的实木耙，隐藏和黑暗多年来，被揭露。这些都是沙下来，修复，考虑到它应有的认识和基本目标，在头顶上，并形成锚的公寓。郁郁葱葱的绿色植物，现在由新安装的未装饰的钢框架玻璃框架，提供必要的交叉通风，每一个热带家庭应该拥抱。

The entire original ceiling was removed and a series of solid timber rafters, concealed and darkened over the years, was revealed. These were sand down, restored, given its due recognition and fundamental objective to soar overhead and form the anchor of the apartment. Lush greenery, now framed by newly installed unadorned steel framed glass windows, provides the necessary cross ventilation that every tropical home should embrace.

 © Rupert Singleton

鲁珀特·辛格尔顿

当一个人走进客厅时，冰冷的灰色石头向客人致意，一个内置的书柜就在眼前。作为主支架的长凳与一系列的台阶结合在一起，从石板过渡到单元上部的木材板。开放式厨房现在是公共领域的新后起之秀。

Cool grey stones greet the visitor as one steps into the living room and a built in book case meets the eye. A long bench which functions as the main settee is integrated with a series of steps, serving to transit from the stone floor to the timber boards on the split upper level of the unit. The open kitchen now serves as the new back drop of the public domain.

 © Rupert Singleton

鲁珀特·辛格尔顿

新的主人套房占据了整个后部，占据了曾经的两间客房，一间厨房和一个服务浴室。集体空间进行了彻底的大修，暴露了原来的屋顶萝卜，并创造了一个不间断的流动从亲密的床空间到引人注目的，开放的浴室。

The new Master suite takes over the entire rear portion, occupying what was once two guest bedrooms, a kitchen and a service bath. The collective space was given a complete overhaul, exposing the original roof rafters and creating an uninterrupted flow from the intimate bed space to the striking, opened bathroom.

原来的主卧室现在用作书房。把书房和起居室隔开的墙壁被尽可能地移走了，这样人们就可以透过书柜的空隙窥视任何一个空间。

The original Master bedroom now functions as a study. The wall separating the study and living room was removed as much as possible, allowing one to peer into either space through the voids of the book case.

 © Rupert Singleton

鲁珀特·辛格尔顿

这套公寓内部的体积相互作用，由倾斜的屋顶、高耸的平台和被拆除的墙壁组合而成，揭示出一种强大而灵活的空间等级结构，人们通过使用材料和仔细的细节来直观地理解和庆祝这些空间。由此产生的空间是一个经过精心设计和磨练的空间，以满足现代生活中精致的情感。

The interplay of volumes within the apartment, brought about by the combination of the pitched roof, raised platforms and torn down walls reveal a strong yet flexible hierarchy of space that was intuitively understood and celebrated through the use of materials and careful detailing. The resultant space is one that has been crafted and honed to meet the refined sensibilities of modern life.

 © Rupert Singleton

鲁珀特·辛格尔顿

濒临灭绝的物种

An endangered species

不幸的是，由于经济学和“p.s.f”(每平方英尺)的数字，而不是完善的生活空间是推动今天的发展，一个人将很难找到一个同等复杂的现代设计的今天。和布鲁克维尔一样古老的步行公寓楼在我们新加坡的城市国家是一种“濒危物种”。许多都是“整体”(单位的所有者联合在一起，集体将他们的房产出售给开发商)，并提出进行重新开发的投标，通常由典型的楼板取代，目的是将尽可能多的单元打包到任何特定的土地上。这些诱人的公寓往往被拆除，让位于毫无灵魂的建筑条件和功利生活的平淡排列。

Unfortunately, with economics and “p.s.f“ (per square foot) figures rather than refinement of the living space being the driving force behind todays’ developments, one would be hard pressed to find an equivalent sophistication in the modern designs of today. Walk-up apartment blocks as old as Brookvale are an “endangered species” in our city-country of Singapore. Many are “en-bloc” (where owners of separate units band together to collectively sell their properties to a developer) and put up for tender for redevelopment, often replaced by typical floor plates which aim to pack as many units as possible into any given site. These alluring apartments are most often, torn down to give way to a bland permutation of soulless architectural condition and utilitarian living.

 existing floor plan

现有平面图

 proposed floor plan

拟议平面图

布鲁克维尔也不例外

Brookvale is no exception

该公司目前正处于一项潜在的整体招标之中，这取决于潜在买家与居民之间的关系。出版我们公寓的希望是讲述这样一种魅力的故事，这种魅力是无法用原始的新住所取代的。我们的愿望是，志同道合的个人要珍惜这些生活空间，并按他们的本意生活。

It is currently in the midst of a potential en-bloc tender and is in the mercy of prospective buyers versus the dwellers. The hope of publishing our apartment is to tell the story of such a charm that cannot be substituted with pristine new living quarters. Our wish is for like-minded individuals to cherish these living spaces and live in as they were meant to be.

 © Rupert Singleton

鲁珀特·辛格尔顿