Hdb Floorplans: The Best (And Worst) Layouts In Public Housing

[PublicLife 0]

Courtesy of Minimalist Bedok Reservoir View

In case anyone thinks that designing flats shaped like giant arrows is a new phenomenon on the part of the HDB, here's proof that it isn't:

Courtesy of Lifestyle Blessed House

[PublicLife 0]

Spacious, well-designed and with lots of windows (very airy)! And the common bathroom has 2 access doors - one of which faces the common bedrooms (HDB finally realised that people don't always want to walk through their kitchen to get to the toilet!).

I also like this variation on this general design:

Pointy flat alert!

Anyone else noticed that the flat below is basically identical to the flat above, expect for the fact that the one below has oddly sloping window walls, making the balcony and common bedrooms irregular in shape. But why on earth did HDB bother? Strange...

Courtesy of A.m.e Journey

[mae29 2]

Pointy flat alert!

Anyone else noticed that the flat below is basically identical to the flat above, expect for the fact that the one below has oddly sloping window walls, making the balcony and common bedrooms irregular in shape. But why on earth did HDB bother? Strange...

Pointy Flat Alert - at Segar Meadows:

This is a 5-Room flat which my sister gave up at the last minute after paying $1K option to purchase!! Really don't understand the logic for designing the ODD shape living room!!

[Kobelala 8]

Kobelala, see what you're missing out on while you were away?

Hi Striking, yeah ! another interesting thing I had miss out is your reno progress !! watch out for me spamming your t-blog !!

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!

Nice hobby PublicLife, your thread is really interesting ! I know that there are quite a few different designs by HDB during home hunting, but never expect they have so many different layout ! really great work Publiclife !

[Kobelala 8]

I viewed this unit during my home hunting... 163sqm.... I almost wanted to go for it due to the huge space... but wife don't like the odd shape....

[tnqhome 0]

Share another nice 5I layout, able to convert the study room to bedroom...

Edited September 19, 2011 by tnqhome

[strikingreality 0]

Kobelala... I love those EMs, cuz their layouts are so different from the usual! There are some near my in laws estate and I always wondered about the layout. I felt other than the living room, the whole unit is actually very nicely "shaped". The kitchen is screaming to be hacked!

Where did u see this unit?

Edited September 19, 2011 by strikingreality

[Kobelala 8]

Kobelala... I love those EMs, cuz their layouts are so different from the usual! There are some near my in laws estate and I always wondered about the layout. I felt other than the living room, the whole unit is actually very nicely "shaped". The kitchen is screaming to be hacked!

Where did u see this unit?

Hi Striking, this unit is in your estate, Street 20 somthing, near to PIE.... u roughly know which cluster right ?

[strikingreality 0]

Hi Striking, this unit is in your estate, Street 20 somthing, near to PIE.... u roughly know which cluster right ?

Yup yup. In laws in that exact same cluster. Too bad you didn't buy... we could have been neighbours!!!

[MeRfMeRf 0]

Thanks, MeRf! This is great.

Yup. You've got the classic fan-shaped flat - the inevitable result of living in a curved or round block. Another strange quirk of the HDB... I mean round blocks... seriously!

Got another one like it here:

Courtesy of Our Haven @ The Roundabout

And, of course, the extreme version of these are the 'slice of pizza' flats (like the ones mentioned above). Freaky!

wow those "pizza slices" are even harder to plan... wonder whats were those planners thinking when they designed the flats and layouts...

[strikingreality 0]

I like this 3 room layout... it's not that long, and quite squarish. Only thing though is that it's v close to the lifts...

This floorplan belongs to A New Lair in the West.

[PublicLife 0]

I viewed this unit during my home hunting... 163sqm.... I almost wanted to go for it due to the huge space... but wife don't like the odd shape....

Rats! You guys should have gone for it!

True, the living spaces are a little bit oddly shaped (just a little) but, as strikingreality points out, they can be opened up beautifully (think a loft, with a high-ceilinged entrance foyer, open plan kitchen, and built-in seating where the 'study' now is!) and the bedrooms aren't too bad (at least they aren't triangular! ).

[PublicLife 0]

I like this 3 room layout... it's not that long, and quite squarish. Only thing though is that it's v close to the lifts...

This floorplan belongs to A New Lair in the West.

Yeah, that can be a problem... I can imagine that, no matter how well the lift shaft is insulated, some sound leakage must occur. And the inevitable whine and hum of the lift mechanism might drive some people to distraction...

One of the very first units I viewed while home-hunting was this one:

The price was very reasonable, the interior wasn't half bad, and the block's location was great. The only problem was that the unit was wrapped around the block's central stairwell. So, every time anyone took the stairs, you could hear their echoing footsteps reverberating throughout the flat. It was very eerie... and irritating.

[PublicLife 0]

wow those "pizza slices" are even harder to plan... wonder whats were those planners thinking when they designed the flats and layouts...

Yeah, it's weird. I'm certainly not a structural engineer, but logic would suggest that it would be easier (and cheaper!) to build blocks of flats that are squarish, rather than curved or triangular (I'm guessing that irregularly-shaped blocks probably required greater care, structurally-speaking, when they were being built). And if it is easier to build squarish flats, they could build them faster, right? And if they are cheaper to build, surely they could sell them to us cheaper too, right?

And it would be a whole lot easier to furnish squarish flats too!

I guess that's why most new HDB flats (since the early 2000s) have been of this standard configuration (more or less):

Courtesy of How Small Is 92sqm?

Courtesy of My New House @ 28b Dover Crescent

In every case, the kitchen is immediately to the left or right of the entrance, and the service yard is just behind it. The living / dining areas are just a short distance in front. At the side of the living areas is a short passageway that leads to the bedrooms, which are neatly lined up in a row. The common bathroom faces the common bedrooms, while the master bathroom is just tucked at the side of the entranceway to the master bedroom. Everything is very sensibly arranged. Not exciting... but undeniably sensible.

[PublicLife 0]

This is from the first DBSS in Bishan:

Courtesy of Our 2nd Home In Bishan

I'm not sure about you but I find this just a tad bit disappointing... This is supposed to be a 'designer' flat (i.e. some thought is supposed to have been put into its design) but with bedrooms that appear to have had their corners nicked off, I'm not sure that this is a vast improvement over 'regular' HDB flats. And the shape of the master bedroom is downright bizarre!