Villa Alba and Villa Lambda by Mercurio Design Lab

You might think that it is too early about articles showcasing villa designs that are mostly designed for enjoying the hot summer weather. Well, in today’s article, we’ll be showcasing two absolutely unbelievable villa designs by Mercurio Design Lab in order to prepare you for the summer and give you some ideas as well.

The villas that we have featured in this article, Villa Alba is located on the island of Sentosa, and Villa Lambda is located in the east coast of Singapore. The exterior and interior design of both of these villas is modern and full of luxury features everywhere you look at. You could say that these two villas are an example of how a modern luxury villa should look like.

But enough jabbering, start scrolling down and enjoy the amazing villa designs presented in this article.

Villa Alba

These are twin villas located on the island of Sentosa, just fifteen minutes from downtown Singapore. Although development is subject to strict and detailed guidelines, the island has become to some extent a place for architectural experiment. The unique, arcing profile of the villas with their distinctive terracotta roof tiles originated partly in the client’s desire for a house which stood out amongst its neighbours, partly as a creative response to the regulatory requirement for a pitched roof, and partly from a desire to imbue the house with metaphorical force. The roof profile celebrates the rising sun over the ocean horizon with the symbolic idea of life cycles and rebirth, an idea reinforced by the use of warm materials such as terracotta and travertine. The semi-circular form suggested a sunrise which seemed apt in that location so close to the open sea ─ hence, the name ‘Alba’, which is Italian for sunrise.To maximise liveable space, an attic was included. But the curved roof offered an alternative to the standard 30 degree pitched roof, enabling an attic with character. Views of the curved roof generate visual interest from inside Level 2 and the attic, while the roof, along with supplementary screens, provides sun shading and protection from heavy rain.

Driven by the idea of modern tropical living, the villas avoid extensive glazing on the western facades and provide deep, shaded recesses for natural cooling and further sun protection. The heat resistant terracotta tiles have an air cavity behind them to enable air and water circulation for natural cooling, while extensive cross-ventilation and energy efficient glazing minimise the need for air-conditioning.

Completed in year 2013.

Villa Lambda

Villa Lambda’s concept springs out of an exploration in the domain of pure geometry applied to architectural forms. The client requested a villa which broke with typical Singaporean suburban formulas, whether modern or classical pastiche. The brief also required optimisation of a tight site and parking for nine cars. Two inverted triangles, slightly offset from one another and slightly offset – a design solution that immediately offered a powerful interpretation of an idea and potential for a great development ahead. With further refinement, the triangle geometries was smoothened up. One end got heavily chamfered, becoming a skewed quadrangle and allowing a large cantilevered roof eave to protect the large windows of the bedroom, which initially should have access to a balcony but was later scaled down to a ledge. The other triangle was stretched at its opposite end and slightly smoothened to form a rounder bullnose morphing from the house walls into a long car porch. Lambda should have resembled a sport car but as its conceptualisation took shape, it started to project the idea of a space vehicle. Therefore, when the car porch was designed with two canopies at each side to extend the protection of the parked cars, their resemblance to winged stabilisers was one right touch to the design finalisation.

Now the building begins to reflect its name, lambda, the Greek letter used to signify the notion of a wavelength, a triangulated formal composition of apparent opposites held in dynamic tension. This is emphasised by the habitable attic solution, providing an extra storey. The aluminium-clad roof with the extruded flaps at the rear of the third storey terrace was intentionally designed to extend the space-ship metaphor, while the doghouse containing the lift over-run was made to look like the air-intake of an engine room. In turn, these gestures support an over-riding strategy of generous eaves and canopies to provide privacy and sun protection. The result is a house which is simultaneously bold but mysterious.

Completed in year 2013.