#2

Projects:

(1) Fernvale Glades 5R, Nov 2017

(2) Tampines GreenCourt 5R, Nov 2017

Which of these two very similar 5-room floor plans would you pick?

If you’ve seen the previous post, you might recognise that both floor plans fall into the “bomb shelter along hallway” (BS-HW) category, which means a long hallway and no open kitchen.

However, both have a wonderful feature in the master bedroom which I personally love - a dedicated space for a wardrobe, flush with the wall. The master toilet is therefore orientated differently from the standard layout. (More on wardrobes and toilets in future posts!)

The Fernvale (1) layout will likely catch out people who don’t study floor plans before choosing their flat. Only a minority of 5R buyers intend to create a walled-off study; most buyers either keep the study open, or do away with it and either place the dining there or expand their living area.

Layout (1) does not at all suit the latter group of buyers, due to the thick, unhackable 1m-long structural wall separating the living and study. And even if I intend to enclose the study in sliding glass walls with grills, the structural wall would take up too much length and block off too much light for my personal taste. In contrast, the Tampines (2) plan is completely wall-free and open.

The wall is an absolute dealbreaker to me, despite a lovely and unique feature that only the Fernvale (1) plan has - an extra window at the dining area! Since HDB stopped building corridor-facing units in 2003, I have hardly seen extra windows in the living areas. Nonetheless, I’d choose the Tampines (2) plan any day because it offers flexibility to arrange & rearrange my living space.

So, moral of this post is - no matter what size of house you’re buying, always check the floor plans before selecting your flat!