When he was a young boy, Tan Cher Ming dreamed of becoming a car designer. “I had always been drawn to design from a young age. Growing up, one of my favourite past times was sketching cartoons or comic figures, which progressed to vehicles – especially cars – when I was a teenager,” shared Tan.
He did end up in a creative career but it is spaces and buildings that he designs for clients as the architect and founder of Singapore-based Ming Architects. Landed houses are his speciality and he has realised many beautiful homes around the island.
Their singularity attests to an ethos of designing unique houses for unique plots and briefs, but all his projects share similar spatial characteristics and material applications. “The common themes in my architecture are the crafting of expansive, generous spaces infused with ample daylight, natural ventilation, framed views of nature and the understated use of natural, tactile materials,” described Tan.
His houses have a contemporary slant, marked by clean edges and neat forms drawn from the canon of Modernist architecture, but tailored to the tropics. Double-volume ceilings, courtyards, atriums, skylights and strategically placed wall openings result in porous structures, enlivened with abundant daylight and nature engagement.
