Tiong Poh Road House is a project designed by PI Architects. Artisanal cafes, boutique yoga studios and speakeasy bars slot themselves amongst the idyllic backdrop of a charismatic pre-war public housing estate. Tiong Bahru. Photography by PI Architects.

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A 2-bedroom, 1,200sqft ground floor unit nestles within this melting pot of old world charm and millennial hipsters. A couple who has lived in Tiong Bahru over 13 years across 4 properties has decided to settle here.
Its royal blue main door greets from behind matte black powder-coated aluminium grilles. Underneath it, a tiled floor of green and black hints passerby of what lies within the apartment. While its door is a loud statement, its glass windows sit unassumingly behind the original cast-iron grilles, along the sloped corridors. Almost as an understatement. The blue door opens up directly into the living room. Daylight filters through the emerald cathedral glass windows, reminiscent of a Wong Kar Wai movie scene, and giving a pastoral wash over a living room that is a cacophony of colours and textures.

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A royal blue wall cladding references the main door and provides a datum between the floral patterned floor and the exposed original brickwork. A Great Gatsby inspired wallpaper pays tribute to the art deco building this apartment sits in. A golden portal wraps around a full height mirror, reflecting the living room on itself.

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Like at the entrance of a speak-easy bar, the mi...