Dalvey 7: Houses by 7 Singapore Architects

It is by no coincidence that another collaborative project is spear-headed by K2LD. Following the success of the Lien Villa Collective at Holland Park, Singapore in 2009, Ko Shiou Hee was asked to look at a similar concept for the Dalvey Estate property and to select and lead a group of architects in the making of a unique architecture expression and yet functional outcome, suitable for contemporary living and fit for rental.

It was learning from Game Theory that Ko Shiou Hee succeeded in persuading his clients to adopt this sharing strategy both in the Lien Collective and the Dalvey 7 group. The selected architects must all adhere to the rules of the game and work on the same fees and briefs. All have to consider each other''s placements and planning to maximise the benefit for all parties as a whole and eventually benefit the client. As architects, each firm, and their practicing architects, has been educated to work with social, economic, and environmental sensitivity. The world that architects operate in is driven by developers and stakeholders who maximise their gain through development strategies, but leave little chance to be true to the architectural profession. It is perhaps even more pressing for architects to address this issue of true collaborative spirit in this increasingly distortive egocentric world.

Through this Dalvey 7 project, there is hope in the idea outlined in Game Theory to perpetuate and flourish in this profession to encourage sharing and collaboration. Perhaps more form of joint venture in various scales like big firm-small firm, local firm-foreign firm, developer-architect venture, design-built etc, will begin to surface.