Ideas include 'granny flats', pick-your-own unit facades and 'sky villages'
EXTENDED families could live side by side, in separate but specially designed flats, while other home buyers could pick the specific facade they want for their unit.
These are some of the new faces of public housing and will soon be found first in Queenstown and then across the country.
These cutting-edge proposals were on show last night at the HDB Hub as part of a Housing Board exhibition. If the public backs them, work will start in three to four years.
Dawson Estate, highlighted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech last month, will be the testbed for such ideas.
Residents will eventually have their pick of more than 3,000 homes in three developments designed by award-winning Singapore architecture firms - Surbana International Consultants, Woha Architects and SCDA Architects.
The companies were told to design estates with spaces for neighbours to linger and chat while retaining the area's heritage.
'They have more than fulfilled this brief,' said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan last night as he opened the exhibition, which also showcased plans for Punggol and Yishun.
SCDA's housing blocks, for example, will be more than 40 storeys high, comprising flats with lofts that could be joined to smaller adjacent units if extended families choose to live together.
If built, they will mark a return of the HDB's multi-generation flats, or 'granny flats', which were introduced in 1987 for extended families.
They comprised a four- or five-room flat with an adjoining studio apartment with a separate entrance. A total of 367 units were built before they were scrapped due to poor demand.
Another idea, put forward by Woha, allows buyers to pick from a range of facades for their flats - which include balconies, monsoon windows, planter boxes and bay windows.
Woha also mooted the idea of 'sky villages' - common high-rise spaces shared by every 10 floors - to encourage interaction.
There are also plans to retain the now defunct market along Commonwealth Avenue and integrate it with new developments, which would include a new plaza for community events.
Longtime Queenstown resident Hu Nguk Mee, 57, looks forward to the return of the district's former bustle. It was one of the first new towns to be built by the HDB and used to teem with banks, eateries and entertainment outlets.
'The new designs look really beautiful,' said Madam Hu.
Singapore Institute of Architects president Tai Lee Siang said giving residents more flexibility in flat design and configuration will allow them to stay longer even as their household needs change over time. This will help foster a stronger sense of community spirit.
WHAT'S TO COME
Dawson delights
SOME Dawson housing blocks will be designed by three different architecture firms and residents can take their pick of different design concepts. The Housing Board's exhibition showcased designs by Woha (above) and SCDA (below). 
Yishun yummies
'MIDDLE-AGED' Yishun town is to get a major shot in the arm with a host of new housing, commercial and recreational developments.
Under the Housing Board proposal, the existing bus interchange will be revamped and integrated with a shopping complex and new homes.
The project will be done by private developers after the site is tendered for sale.
The plan includes a closer look at the natural world and recreation facilities too.
Residents will be able to stroll on a boardwalk over Yishun Pond, near where the upcoming Khoo Teck Puat Hospital will be sited. They will even be able to take in the view from a lookout tower to be built by the water.
A new community library and cycling track around Yishun Ring Road are also in the pipeline.
The past is not forgotten in the revamp.
The former agricultural district, known for its fisheries and rubber, pineapple and gambier (a tropical vine used in tanning and dyeing) plantations, will get storyboards showing the rich heritage of the town.
A new town plaza and bazaar place for community events and night markets will be created. Disabled-friendly pedestrian malls and covered walkways will link different parts of the district.
For the more active, nearby Lower Seletar Reservoir will beckon with watersport facilities.
Punggol perks
*About 3,000 new flats will be built there every year
*A new 20m to 30m-wide waterway snaking 4.2km through town (above), linking two yet-to-be-built reservoirs on either side. Work on it can start in 2009, and it will take three to four years to complete
*A promenade on the northern seafront, stretching about 8.7km
*An integrated waterfront commercial and residential development. The site for this project will be put on sale within five years. Work on this town centre will likely start in 2010
*Waterfront housing with stepped courtyards
*A park on Coney Island, to be developed over five years starting next year A tree-lined boulevard with landscaping in Punggol Central
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