PublicLife

Thanks! It was a hobby born out of necessity... While home hunting, I always made it a point to purchase the floorplan of the home I was viewing so that I wouldn't end up with any surprises after buying it. What I discovered was that HDB flats come in a greater variety of sizes, types and configurations than I ever thought possible - a remarkable feat considering that they were originally intended as housing for the masses, and so (most people would assume) ought to be simple and uniform both inside and out. HDB: More than meets the eye!

Found some more examples of the 'slice of pizza' layout! Courtesy of Ea@sembawang Aka Blue Riverview Courtesy of Cosy For Four Really have to hand it to these guys... They've sure got unique homes! That's one thing that I love (or maybe hate, depending on how you look at it) about HDB flats with odd layouts. The flat that HDB gives you may look like Frankenstein's monster to begin with but it's got so much potential... really! With a bit of hard work (and some sweating on the part of your ID ), you could turn it into a supermodel!

Is this what you were talking about... It's sort of triangular... Courtesy of An Em Situated Amongst Greenery Even though this guy's layout is pretty wacky, I must say that I sure envy him. A ground floor EM at beautiful Sunset Way. And at 159 sq m, it certainly ain't small! And it comes with a back entrance too... I prefer ground floor EMs that do! It feels so much more house-like! Sweet!

What images do 'pointy' toilets bring to mind I wonder? Hmmm... I mean, the rest of the flat is so normal by comparison, and then you see the common bathroom and think, "What the..." Courtesy of My Ea @ Pasir Ris Or a 'pointy' study, perhaps? Maybe the HDB is trying to tell children to study harder so that their grades will go 'up'... Courtesy of Second Time Lucky And what about flats that are entirely shaped like giant arrows, with the master bedroom at the 'tip', so to speak? I dare not even make a guess about what the HDB is trying to suggest here... Courtesy of Minimalist Bedok Reservoir View

Thanks for the contribution, adidaem! Completely missed this one! It is amazing! Never seen an EM layout like this before.

Yup. Although I do wonder what HDB was thinking with a pointed bathroom though! Courtesy of Our Ea Pasir Ris - Piggy N Snake

I don't know... But I'm pretty sure they were trying to make a 'point' with this one... Courtesy of Preciuos Moment @ 5a, Woodlands

Just for laughs... Fun with Shapes with the HDB! Rectangle: Courtesy of A Simple Place @ Bedok Hexagon: Courtesy of Pixiepixel's Pixilated Home Triangle: Courtesy of Top Floor Unit @ Compassvale Circle: Courtesy of Sembawang Budget Terminal

Hmm... This would give the expression "climbing into bed" a whole new meaning!

Was reading old RT blogs again, when I found myself oddly fascinated with this floorplan: Courtesy of First Home In Compassvale, Near Buangkok Mrt Although this is clearly a fairly new flat (it has a household shelter, air-con ledge and external rubbish chute, after all), it also has bathrooms that are spaced very far apart. Almost on opposite ends of the flat in fact! Now, that's unusual for a new flat! (Although, I do very much like this design, however. Putting the common bathroom between the 2 common bedrooms is a sound and logical place to put it. ) Most newer flats, however, tend to look like this, with their bathrooms back-to-back: Courtesy of Ea In The Far East Of Bukit Batok Or, at least, adjacent to one another: Courtesy of Hdb's Sers (I suppose this makes building the flats easier, since piping for the toilets is all in one place.) Older flats, however, sometimes have their toilets very well spread out, like this one: Courtesy of Our Ea Reno At Pasir Ris

Yup. And the problem for a lot of newer flats is that the kitchen seems to be plagued by the same problem - i.e. wall space is devoted to access to the service yard, so there are very few windows and the kitchen suffers from poor ventilation. For example, the only windows in the kitchens in these 5-room flats face the service yard, which would mean that anytime you cook, your clothes would smell ... of ... whatever ... you ... have ... cooked. Oh yummy. And this flat isn't much better. There's only one small set of casement windows, with the rest of the wall space devoted to access to the service yard. Courtesy of Our First Nest In The East

However, a flat type that I've always found secretly delightful is the adjoined flat. Not only are they large (obviously since they are two flats combined into one), they have so much potential and are so well-equipped. Imagine... two kitchens (link one to your master bedroom and create your own master suite!) and up to four toilets (no need to fight over who gets to use the loo first!). Courtesy of Restoration/renovation For Jumbo Unit

Interestingly, there are a number of 2-room HDB flat types still available if you look around hard enough for one. These are right above Tanjong Pagar Plaza: And these are, of course, in Tiong Bahru:

Incidentally, there are also 4-room point block flats (along Chin Swee Road) of this configuration: Clearly, this was an era when HDB felt that doing one's business and taking a bath were two activities that were distinct and separate and should be kept very far from one another.

Anyway, just as we all thought that HDB couldn't get any weirder, here's something to really mess with your minds: Back in the mid-1970s, the HDB came up with a slightly larger version of the 3NG flat that they named (with breathtaking logic ), the 3 1/2-room New Generation flat (on floorplans, it's sometimes called the "3-room new flat (modified intermediate 'A')". Courtesy of Haus Of Yuene And here's what it would have originally looked like with the storeroom intact: No mention on exactly what half a room looks like though... That's just something we'll have to ask HDB!

Ha! Yeah, I've seen this too... First thing that appeared when I was flat-hunting and wanted to figure out what 'model A', 'simplified', 'improved', and all the rest of it meant and googled the terms for more info. But frankly, I ended up with more questions than answers. For example: If a 4I is smaller than all the other 4-room flat types, then what exactly is it supposed to be an 'improvement' over? A shanty hut, perhaps? And if there's a 4S (S for simplified), was there ever a 4C (C for complicated), and why not? And, then there's always the nagging 'why-is-there-no-model-B' question? But then I'm just a nutcase, and I'm sure no one else is bothered by this... so, I'll shut up now. More pics, less talk.

Something that's always baffled me though is HDB's naming conventions... and their lack of coherent logic. Take these two 4-room flats for example (the one above and the one below): Courtesy of 4rm Resale @ Jw The one below is supposed to be a 4-room 'Model A'. Which then begs the question: Why is one 'simplified' and the other one a 'Model A'? They both seem fairly 'simplified' to me... one is just bigger than the other. And why aren't there any 'Model B' flats? Weird!

Just for contrast, a more modern 5-room, point-block flat: Courtesy of Our 1st Sweet Home~ Bukit Panjang My guess is that this was built in the mid to late 1990s, before the era of the household shelter, but after the era of the 'service balcony' and external rubbish chute.

Poor thing! This block layout really does suck! *slowly shake head*

Hi mae29! Thanks for uploading this! I've been an admirer of your 'extreme makeover' and I was hoping that you'd post a larger version of your original floorplan for all of us to see. I kinda guessed that it was one of the JTC-built flats, since the whole of Pandan Gardens was essentially created by the JTC anyway! I like their idea of 2 entrances actually - so if you're carrying groceries and need to put them in the fridge quickly, you can go straight to the kitchen entrance right away!

Another dream of mine is also to get my hands on the floorplans for the split-level EMs along Hougang Ave 1: Blk 111 Hougang Avenue 1, Singapore 530111 Blk 120 Hougang Avenue 1, Singapore 530120 Blk 122 Hougang Avenue 1, Singapore 530122 Apparently, when you enter the flat, there's a short flight of steps leading down to the living areas and another flight leading up to the bedrooms (or so I've heard anyway, from a friend who went to view one on sale a few years back). It has a very loft-like feel that was way ahead of its time. Quite extraordinary! And their colour scheme has a pleasantly Mediterranean feel to it that it most appropriate, considering their location next to a sleepy little stream (or longkang, depending on how you look at it ).

Ah, I see it now! One of these I guess: Blk 468A Admiralty Drive Nice full height windows though. And the colour scheme isn't half bad. But the view... of flatted factories across the river? Hardly awe-inspiring...

And a 2-room HDB flat: Now, aren't you glad that you don't live in one of these? Puts everything in perspective, doesn't it.

Thanks, Prody! Maybe when I'm retired, I'll write a book on HDB floorplans... called A Field Guide to HDB Flats: What on earth was HDB thinking!

There are ones like that in Potong Pasir too. Rare and remarkable!