Inside The Winged House by K2LD Architects: A Tropical Home That Seems to Take Flight
The Winged House by K2LD Architects is one of those rare homes that looks effortless, yet every move is precise. Perched on a tricky triangular site in Singapore, it turns a sloping, palm-filled plot into a refined modern retreat where architecture, climate and landscape are tightly choreographed.
If you are exploring modern trapezium house design, thinking about building on an awkward triangular plot, or simply drawn to indoor outdoor living space, this project is a masterclass. Below, we unpack how the Winged House K2LD Architects designed resolves its constraints, what makes its “winged” rooflines so compelling, and which ideas you can adapt for your own contemporary family residence.
Project Snapshot: Why The Winged House Matters
The Winged House is a contemporary family home completed in 2012 on Gallop Road in Singapore. K2LD Architects were asked to create a generous, comfortable residence on a sloped, triangular site dominated by three tall palm trees planted almost at its center. Instead of seeing this as a limitation, they treated the palms and the odd plot shape as the main drivers of the design.
The result is a residence formed by two trapezoidal wings that open around a central garden, almost like a pair of arms embracing the landscape. The building composition, the roof geometry and even the interior circulation all work around this green core. In many ways, it is a built diagram of how to turn a challenging plot into a defining asset.
This project has been widely recognized within the design community, collecting several regional and international awards. For home enthusiasts, architects and design-conscious homeowners, it stands as a clear reference for triangular plot house architecture that feels both expressive and liveable.
Working With A Triangular Plot: Turning Constraints Into Form
Most homes start from a simple rectangle. The Winged House does not. Its site is sloped and triangular, with three roughly 20-meter-high palm trees at the heart of the land. Rather than forcing a conventional footprint onto this geometry, the architects allowed the site to define the house.
The plan is organized into two trapezium-shaped wings, separated in the middle by the entrance, foyer and main living room. These wings open outwards to carve a sheltered central garden. Instead of left and right “blocks,” you have two splayed volumes that frame views of the palms and create long, angled perspectives through the house.
This modern trapezium house design does more than look interesting. The angled wings help capture breezes, offer multiple orientations for daylight, and create varied outdoor pockets around the home. For anyone dealing with an irregular site, the takeaway is clear: allow the outline of the plot to inform the footprint, and use geometry to generate usable outdoor rooms rather than leftover corners.
The Winged Roof: A Sculptural, Climatic Strategy
The most striking feature of the Winged House K2LD Architects created is its roof. Instead of a single, simple pitch, the roof breaks into bold, wing-like planes that sweep upward and then fold back to meet the ground. These separate, staggered roofs recall traditional double-pitched forms, but reimagined in a crisp, contemporary language.
Formally, this gives the house its distinctive silhouette. The upswept lines energize the facade and frame the sky when viewed from the interior. Functionally, the split roof is much more than a sculptural gesture. The gaps and shifts between roof planes let natural light filter deep into the house and allow hot air to escape, reinforcing cross-ventilation.
Daytime brings a calibrated play of light and shadow in key spaces such as the double-height dining area, the upper-level passageway and the generous outdoor patio. At night, concealed lighting highlights the edges of the split roofs, emphasizing their floating quality and making the whole house read almost like a lantern in the garden.
Malay-Inspired Modern House: Reinterpreting Vernacular Wisdom
Although the expression is contemporary, the Winged House has deep roots in Malay-inspired modern house thinking. Traditional Malay houses evolved to respond to tropical climate long before air conditioning. Elevated floors, double-pitched roofs, generous overhangs and permeable walls all helped keep interiors cool and dry.
K2LD Architects did not replicate a historic house. Instead, they lifted core principles and translated them into modern architecture. The idea of a double-pitched roof became separated, wing-like roof planes that hover over the living spaces. The extended eaves were exaggerated into deep overhangs that stretch far beyond the building line, especially over key outdoor living areas and the swimming pool.
These overhangs are essential to comfort in a tropical climate like Singapore’s. They protect the interiors and terraces from heavy rain and harsh sun while preserving a strong connection to the garden. Where a more compact roof might require constant blinds and shutters, here shade and shelter are embedded in the form itself. Natural ventilation, another tropical essential, is enhanced by the staggered roof geometry which encourages air movement through and around the house.
Materiality: Timber, Shade And Visual Rhythm
The facades and roof undersides rely heavily on timber to add warmth and texture to the modern form. Burmese teak clads the soffits of the overhanging canopies, creating ceilings with a soft, honey-toned glow. This makes covered outdoor zones feel as considered and finished as interior rooms, reinforcing the indoor outdoor living space experience.
Darker Chengai wood appears in shading elements along the exterior. Vertical timber louvers and slender spindles line portions of the facade, providing both sun protection and privacy. These screens echo the verticality of the palm trunks and surrounding foliage, visually stitching the building to its landscape context.
Beyond aesthetics, these wooden elements perform important environmental roles. The louvers filter strong sunlight before it hits glazing, reducing glare and heat gain. They also create layered views: from the inside, residents see out through a soft veil; from the garden, the house appears dappled and finely grained, rather than as large solid walls.
Interior Organization: A Family House Across Three Levels
Inside, the Winged House is clearly conceived as a contemporary family residence Singapore style: generous, multi-level and adaptable. The ground floor is the social heart. Here you find the entrance sequence, main foyer, living room, a dramatic double-volume dining space, a large patio and, at one wing’s far end, a partially sheltered swimming pool.
This layout allows daily life to flow naturally between interior and exterior. The main living areas open towards the central garden and pool, creating an easy relationship between lounging, dining and swimming. The combination of high ceilings and open edges makes the floor feel larger and airier than its footprint would suggest.
The upper level houses the more private spaces. A master suite, study and additional bedrooms occupy the trapezoidal wings, with circulation that follows the building’s geometry. A balcony continues the angled form, offering vantage points onto the garden and the palms below. This ensures that even the most secluded rooms remain visually connected to the outdoors.
Below ground, a basement level accommodates a gym, guest areas and storage. This frees up the main floors from back-of-house functions and gives the family flexible spaces that can adapt as needs change over time.
