First floor doubles as exhibition gallery; guided tours in the works

The columnless carpark directly below is held up by long-span beams, which, due to their length, naturally bend a little with weight.

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The columnless carpark directly below is held up by long-span beams, which, due to their length, naturally bend a little with weight. But with the murals in mind, it was back to the drawing board. The brick parcel now sits on a galvanised steel frame and is clamped in place from both the top and the bottom.

A decision to put in movement joints feels particularly prescient after the earthquakes that struck Johor on Aug 24. "They act as a dampener for movement due to nearby construction or building, or a seismic wave from Indonesia and Malaysia," says Mr Tay.

Ms Koh's brief was for the mural to be visible from the street level so anyone could peek at the slice of Singapore history.

Mr Tay adds: "Usually on conservation projects, your engagement is very specific with rules set. But for this, as an architect, it was liberating and very strange. We were really trusted with the decision of what's good for this particular context."

As Ms Koh waited for the house to be completed, she continued researching and buying Singapore works, mostly those from the pioneer generation.

The first floor, which houses the murals, now doubles as an exhibition gallery, with a central garden courtyard that Mr Tay designed as a tribute to Chen's famous "miniature zoo" in his garden.

While there are no ducks, chickens, peacocks or squirrels to be found here, Ms Koh and her family have revelled in discovering new, magical ways for this central feature to interact with the surrounding art. From an angle near the entrance, a reflection of a gibbon from a Chen painting appears to scramble up a trunk in the courtyard.

Ms Koh says the branches of the eucalyptus alba tree planted there also recall the Cubist herons that Chen is known to paint. "They change colour when it rains. There would be a gradation of colours, light and dark."