©2005.huatlim
view of sliding panels: open plan shower


Lim House [or more passionately known as the Plywood House] is about 15 years old today. It is actually an interior architecture project, three bedrooms were taken down, two bathrooms relocated and an entire kitchen revamped. Doors and Windows were opened up to let more daylight in, floor finishes gutted out, ceilings removed, and almost every internal wall omitted and taken out for want of open space and adding more visual connectivity between what is left of the rooms. Today the decoration is so minimal it looks uncomfortably bare, still looking curious as ever after nearly twenty years since its execution. Four custom made plywood partitions slide across each other along a 10m long room, behind these 'walls' we find a washroom, then a store, an open shower with full height glazing, and then a mini library with full wall of drawers. These very basic and bare bones floor finishes add the extra 'edge' to the overall look and character of this three bedroom house.

Plywood House went through extensive renovation, almost every conceivable non structural or internal wall has been removed and re-arranged safe for a few. Clearly this new minimalist concept house has no other embellishment except modern furniture. There isn't any visible decoration of any kind. Later, old styled wooden strips and antique Malacca "dutch" tiles inserts were placed on exposed finish cement floor, protected only with a thin coat of clear polyurethane paint. Only the simplest and the most economic materials were employed for the construction of this house, the use of locally sustainable and available building techniques made it cheap and easy to build. This project took under 4 weeks to complete, for a budget not exceeding USD12000, including all the fixtures and built ins. ©2005.huatlim

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