Singapore architect Chang Yong Ter believes good architecture can make us better humans

There is an aura of calm that Chang Yong Ter exudes, as though he spends his days in an ashram. His mannerisms are gentle, his voice soft. It would be easy to imagine him as a wellness instructor communing with nature amid the rice terraces of Ubud, Bali.

In fact, Chang is a Singaporean architect who practises yoga, tai chi and meditation. He has also studied their philosophies, leading him down a deeply spiritual path that has shaped the way he lives and works.

Perhaps this is also where his aversion to the career spotlight comes from – a combination of humility and the belief that it is better to let the portfolio of his eponymous practice, Chang Architects, speak for itself. Made up mainly of homes, his body of work is certainly eloquent. Each project is distinctive in its own way, and no two look the same.

“I value every project as having the potential to be something unique, interesting and inspiring. The starting point is always the physical needs and aspirations of the client, and the site conditions,” Chang said.

PIONEERING ARCHITECTURE IN NATURE

A testament to this is how a project he conceptualised more than 20 years ago continues to be celebrated today. In August, he participated in design festival Jia Curated in Bali, where a model of one of his early projects, Elok House, was on show. Among its most notable features are full-height green walls and trees growing through the floors of the three-storey intermediate terrace house off Orchard Road. 

“The client’s brief to me was to have as much greenery as possible, so I took the liberty to start with designing the landscape first, then filling in the living spaces. I will always be grateful to him for his vision to have that brief and bravery to see it through,” said the 57-year-old.

This was back in 2005, when terms such as “biophilia” were hardly part of the architectural lexicon and the idea of living so intimately with nature was far less commonplace. The project went on to win multiple accolades, including the President’s Design Award in 2008, becoming a major turning point for his practice.

Clearly, the industry has not forgotten it either. This year’s Jia Curated theme, Nature Weave, explores the relationship between people and the natural world. So when Charmaine Chan, curator of the Architecture in Scale exhibition, came knocking for Elok House’s maquette, Chang thought it was a perfect fit.

Far from being decorative objects, these models form an integral part of his design process. After receiving a brief, he sketches a few simple ideas on paper before settling on one and building a maquette to present to the client. In an industry that now practically lives online, Chang’s process seems almost ancient.

Clients, naturally, love it. “Most of the time, it’s very convincing because they can see the spaces in three dimensions. One look and they can tell what the facade looks like and how it relates to the living areas,” he explained.

The models become especially useful when he has a sizeable residence to design. One example is Moongate House, a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) on a 32,658-sq-ft plot in Bukit Timah.

A modest, single-storey foyer opens into a double-volume hall and, beyond it, the multi-storey residence. Courtyards and water features connect the public and private zones, while elements of the design respond to the owner’s Shandong heritage and his journey from farmer to shipping magnate.

Despite its name, the client’s aversion to rounded forms meant Chang had to adopt an extremely linear design language. On the facade, precast modular panels form a rhythmic composition, serving as both sun-shading devices and windows that mediate daylight and views of the surrounding gardens and forest while responding to the tropical climate.

Another noteworthy project is Cornwall Gardens, completed in 2014 on a 16,081-sq-ft GCB site. Its owner appointed Chang after seeing what he had done with Elok House. The catch? The site was almost 10 times larger.

“Since it was on a completely different scale, I had to look at it in a different way. This gave me more scope to experiment – though I didn’t use this word in front of my client,” he laughed.

Responding to the client’s request for a darker, moodier atmosphere and the plot’s sloping gradient, Chang designed the house around a central courtyard. A swimming pool occupies the base, while the terraced roof garden echoes the cascading contours of Southeast Asia’s rice fields. Nature is tightly integrated within the living spaces.

ARCHITECTURE AS ‘AN ENVIRONMENTAL BEING’

Chang’s portfolio extends beyond homes. Among his projects is Wondrous Light Children’s House, a social enterprise and children’s enrichment studio that he and his wife, Doreen Eng, opened in 2017 and continue to run together.

Guided by Dr Rudolf Steiner’s Waldorf pedagogy, it nurtures children through imaginative play, rhythm, the arts, meaningful everyday experiences and a close relationship with nature. Digital devices are banned.

The premises occupy a three-storey shophouse on Kampong Bahru Road, complete with a pond, rope swing, mud pit and edible rooftop garden. In place of conventional, box-like rooms, Chang introduced angled planes that encourage the eye to travel and allow the space to be experienced from changing perspectives. Recycled plywood panels line the interiors, forming intimate nooks and crannies designed around the scale, senses and spatial experience of young children.

“Wondrous Light has become an increasingly meaningful part of my journey. I can see how this pedagogy helps children become more balanced and grounded, with a strong sense of self, curiosity about the world and capacity to connect meaningfully with others,” said the father of two girls.

Chang was first introduced to Steiner’s work by a former colleague years before his first daughter was born in 2010. Naturally, both went through the programme. Over time, he became increasingly drawn to Steiner’s philosophy of anthroposophy.

“Simply put, it is to me about perceiving humans and the world more holistically – recognising that beyond what we can physically see and measure, there are also the inner qualities of being human: our thoughts, feelings, imagination and sense of connection with one another and with nature,” he explained.

He translates this into his practice by viewing architecture as “an environmental being” – one that participates in human life physically, socially, culturally and spiritually. Rather than simply providing shelter, he believes the built environment has the potential to nurture our inner well-being and shape the way we experience the world.

“Flora and fauna, wind, daylight, the sounds of the night and rain can become active participants within four walls, creating a reciprocal relationship in which we shape our environment and vice versa,” Chang elaborated.

Looking back, he now recognises elements of these ideas in projects such as Cornwall Gardens and Moongate House. What began intuitively as an effort to bring nature, people and their homes closer together has taken on deeper significance as his understanding of anthroposophy develops. He is increasingly interested in what happens after his clients move in – how architecture can continue to live and change with its occupants, nature, culture and time.

AN ACCIDENTAL ARCHITECT

Chang attributes his ability to see the world through a different lens partly to a childhood marked by endless playtime. “My parents were busy working as tailors, so my three older siblings and I had to find ways to play with what we had by innovating and inventing games.”

Funnily enough, a cold he caught from his father before his A-Level examinations set him on the path to architecture. Drowsy from medication, he struggled through the papers and performed so poorly that his applications to study engineering at the National University of Singapore were repeatedly rejected while he was serving National Service.

At the recommendation of a close friend, Chang eventually applied to study architecture and was accepted. On his first day, he knew there was no turning back after his tutor, the late Whang Tar Kuay, described architecture’s potential to inspire awe – from sacred spaces and civic buildings to great works that shape how people experience a place. “My only reference of architecture was HDB flats, but from that point on, my curiosity was piqued and I became fully immersed in the subject,” he added.

An assignment in his fourth year required him to design a yoga centre, marking the beginning of his spiritual journey. To better understand the subject, he went for a trial class at a Raja Yoga studio, not realising that he had signed up for meditation instead.

“It changed my life from then. I learnt how to focus my mind and when it was as still as clear water, I found I could see things clearly,” he said. Not long after, he took up hatha yoga and tai chi, practices that have remained part of his life ever since.

Upon graduation in 1996, Chang joined architect Tang Guan Bee, a pioneering figure in Singapore’s experimental architecture scene. “I wanted to learn from someone who was locally trained and whose approach to design was idiosyncratically local. There was something distinctive and original in the way he approached design, always in the spirit of exploration and innovation,” he explained.

His four years with Tang reinforced the importance of architecture that was fiercely design-driven yet intuitive. Ideas were developed through sketching, model-making and constant critical conversation rather than copying from magazines or playing it safe. To this day, Chang holds on to these deeply human values, which he believes cannot be replaced by AI.

In 2000, a university classmate approached Chang to design a house for his sister. Chang took it on, and his practice was born. He has stayed the course because he believes in the power of good architecture to inspire people.

These days, he finds himself increasingly preoccupied with anthroposophic architecture. “I am still very much on the journey of uncovering,” he admitted. “Perhaps the architecture of the future is to create living environments that help us become more conscious human beings, more aware of ourselves, connected with one another and aware of our place within nature.”

Chang continues to wander along roads less travelled, much as he has throughout his life. It is an intention, he realises, that has been with him for as long as he can remember. “I think there’s a streak in me that tries to be a rebel in a peaceful way.”