Impact of Work-from-home Practices on Design of HDB Flats
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the impact of work-from-home trends on future HDB flat designs and the provision of communal neighborhood working spaces equipped with Wi-Fi. Mr Alex Yam inquired about specific design changes and plans to help residents who require quiet spaces to work outside their homes. Minister for National Development Desmond Lee replied that HDB provides flexible flat layouts and is currently trialing "smart-enabled" homes in Punggol and Tengah to further support telecommuting. He highlighted that communal spaces like void deck Community Living Rooms and certain Community Clubs already offer Wi-Fi and amenities, while co-working spaces are available in specific public libraries. The Ministry will continue monitoring trends to study converting existing communal areas and designing future community facilities to include dedicated workspaces.
Transcript
82 Mr Alex Yam asked the Minister for National Development with working from home becoming a part of our lifestyle (a) how will this impact HDB's design for future homes to be built; and (b) whether there are plans to turn communal spaces in the neighbourhood into working spaces with Wi-Fi to help those who need a quiet space to work.
Mr Desmond Lee: HDB flats are designed to provide a living environment that is functional and comfortable. For instance, bedrooms are built with large windows to optimise natural lighting and ventilation, while kitchens are designed to be open to increase the sense of spaciousness.
HDB flats are also designed to provide flexibility for residents to reconfigure spaces in their homes to meet their needs. For example, columns in new flats are pushed to the edges wherever possible, so that home owners can have more flexibility in reconfiguring their home layout. Many homeowners have personalised their homes through renovation. There are also ways to create workspaces through use of creative furnishing.
We are studying how HDB flats can further support telecommuting – a trend that has been accelerated by the current pandemic. Today, broadband for Wi-Fi ready connections is readily available in all public housing flats, facilitating working and studying from home. HDB is also trialing 'smart-enabled' homes in Punggol Northshore and Tengah so that residents can adopt more smart applications. If feasible, we will incorporate these features into future flats.
We have also made available communal spaces within the neighbourhood which can be used for work. For example, HDB has introduced Community Living Rooms, which are located within the void decks, and some of our Community Clubs (CCs) have opened their spaces for work purposes in recent months. Most of these spaces are equipped with basic amenities such as charging points, and access to Wi-Fi networks.
For residents who require additional amenities, such as meeting rooms with video conferencing facilities, they have the option of using commercially-run co-working spaces available at three public libraries: Jurong Regional Library, Toa Payoh Public Library and Geylang East Public Library.
We will continue to monitor tele-commuting trends, and study ways to convert existing communal spaces into workspaces, as well as to plan and design workspaces upfront in future community facilities.