Park Place Residences @ PLQ Review

Propshort: Park Place Residences comes in with plenty of hype due to its few delays but it arrived with plenty of flair and character. The wait does feel worth it, especially when one looks at the showunits available. All of them, regardless of size are well-designed, with spacious living quarters and high-quality furnishing for an extravagant lifestyle within the future Paya Lebar Quarter. 

After a long time, the official launch of Park Place Residences @ Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) is almost here. A highly anticipated project, Park Place Residences was expected to be a luxurious residential component of the new Paya Lebar metropolis.

And in that regard, Park Place Residences does not disappoint.

Park Place Residences

The entire site promises to look impressive when the development is up and running. Currently, plans are underway for the residential blocks to be up first, followed closely by the retail and office blocks.

Lendlease is intending to only sell about 40% of the units as part of its first phase with the other units to be released in tandem with the retail and commercial elements of the integrated development.

25^th March 2017 is when the first phase of the sales begins but the showflat is already primed and ready. While the showflat is big to accommodate large groups of people, it has something interesting, other than the 3D model showing the entirety of Paya Lebar Quarter. A virtual reality display and controller that lets guests experience the development closely is set up on the way to the showunits.

VR console

The tech helps guests to better visualise the development outside of the living spaces and is, according to Lendlease and their designers, accurate to what will be built.

Units are also decked out in dark warm and light warm lighting for the flooring. Aside from the living and dining areas, the buyer may choose either of the flooring types for the unit.

Tiles selection

Different flooring types create specific atmospheres for the home and the choice to have the unit feel a certain way is a nice touch for the potential buyer.

There are three units on display at the showflat; 1BR (484 sqft), 2BR Premium (743 sqft) and a 3BR (1,163 sqft).

1BR (484 sqft)

The 1BR unit is the quintessential studio type of apartment where one or two persons may inhabit.

1BR living room

The darker colour scheme may seem contradictory for a unit that is smaller than the others but the high-quality quartz table tops and hardwood flooring gives the entire unit a sort of classy shine that sells its comfort and vibe easily.

Units like these tend to feel cramped, even with an open kitchen. Most of the times, the open kitchen is there because there’s no space for an alternative. In this unit, the open kitchen barely takes up much room and yet is impressively designed with the quartz table top and Italian soft closing cabinets including washer racks and a bottom cabinet for the washing machine.

1BR kitchen

The table top is part of the interior design for the showunit so take that away and the room opens up more. For 1BR units, dining tables aren’t always necessary as a larger coffee table will suffice. But, there is room for both.

The bedroom is connected to the bathroom and both are connected to the living area via separate doors. This is to ensure that when guests come calling, privacy is still maintained in either rooms.

In terms of space, a king size bed sits in the bedroom with no issues, even with the wardrobe built in. The walk space around the bed is considerable when compared to other developments and the large windows that admit more natural light will have a positive impact on the look and feel of the bedroom.

It is a cosy space as much as it commodious. Place a super single or even a bunk bed in there and the room offers up more opportunities for furnishing. Additionally, there’s quite a large wall area from the main door that can be tapped into. At the showflat, this was turned into wine/shoe rack. Utilizing this wall does not make the apartment look or feel smaller in any way which is a boon for buyers.

Wine and shoe rack

Ultimately, it is a great start for an extremely promising project.

2BR Premium (743 sqft)

The 2BR unit keeps its bedrooms around the corner from the kitchen as a nice surprise. The lead in from the main door shows a similar layout to the 1BR. A long corridor, flanked on one side by the open kitchen is decked out in brighter colours.

2BR Premium hallway

A whirlpool fridge sits alongside smeg kitchen appliances in a cooking area that is accessible with top and bottom cabinets, including an oven.

As for the living room, it benefits much from the balcony. Balconies here are respectable of the living space. They’re of a comfortable size, while adding much to the living area. It is nice to see that the balcony does not cannibalise space from the living room or the adjacent bedroom.

2BR living area and balcony

Also, for units that are ten floors and above, cool breeze and either a city view or Tanjong Katong in the background provides extra incentive toward making the most use of the balcony.

The corridor leading to the bedrooms is a nice segue from the living area.

2BR bedrooms

The common bedroom makes an excellent first impression. That Lendlease did not see the need to shove a queen size bed in there to show the size of the room is great. With a single bed, some shelves and a working table, the actual size of the room can be properly appreciated.

2BR Common bedroom

It is a well-designed room that looks ready for moving in. That is a tall order, given that this unit is 2BR but the high-quality furnishing and logical layout presents an attractive image. This image is surpassed only by the master bedroom.

2BR master bedroom

The expanse of space is both surprising and fulfilling. The master bedroom hearkens back to bedrooms of old, where a king size bed did not take up all available room.

The master bathroom comes with a rain shower (as all master bathrooms in the development do) and the doorway seems wide enough for a wheelchair to roll in.

And the large, floor to ceiling windows that admit plenty of natural light will help in making the bedroom space look and feel even bigger than it already is. The 2BR Premium unit is fantastic as it builds upon the good first impression made by the 1BR unit and shows potential buyers how Lendlease intends to handle the progression from studio sized units to larger, more family-friendly ones.

It is a good progression of size as it shows how each type ups the ante rather the detract from the previous experience.

3BR (1,163 sqft)

The 3BR unit is luxurious, family friendly type of home you’ll want to show off to your friends as often as you can.

3BR

From the main door, the unit opens to show parts of the living room, the dry kitchen including table top and the closed wet kitchen.

The wet kitchen is notable for a couple of reasons. It has a yard space built at the back with room for a washing machine and dryer to sit side by side and ample leg room to place a clothing rack or some shelves to hold detergent or dirty laundry.

The other notable thing is the pantry / maid’s room. Bigger here than in other developments, this area is also where the wash centre is located. In most developments, these two areas tend to be separated which usually results in the space being misused.

Over here, the marriage of the wash centre with the pantry leaves room for a proper yard to be built, all the while taking absolutely nothing away from the cooking area. It makes the space look cleaner, streamlined and far more effective in terms of design.

Parts of the kitchen can be seen from the main door and the welcome area but the kitchen here is mostly blocked, with only bits of the living room in view like how older apartments were designed.

3BR main door and welcome area

It sets up nicely the type of home you will have, with bright lights and tiles to accentuate the space. The living room benefits greatly with the long balcony that matches its length. Not many units can count a balcony as a feature but in Park Place Residences they’re a welcome addition.

3BR living and dining

Plenty of fresh air, natural light and cool breeze, if you’re living on a high floor, will ventilate and illuminate the space.

Although the showunit has the dining table share space with the living room, it is possible to merely use the table top provided in the dry kitchen as a dining table. Doing so would free up more space to make the living room into a zone dedicated to relaxation and entertainment.

Add the balcony to the mix (which comes with the ceiling and high security walls) and there’s more room to play with, larger or quirkier furniture you may buy to give your home a unique look.

There’s certainly more than enough room to furnish to your heart’s content.

Aside from the living room, the common bedrooms continue the trend started in the 1BR and 2BR premium units. These are well-designed, large common bedrooms that are treated properly, rather than just physical attachments to a home.

It is also helpful that Lendlease continues to show the proper size of the bedroom by using it smartly, instead of shoving a queen size bed in there and calling the job done. A single bed and some furniture goes much further toward helping people visualise the space better and the common bedrooms in the 3BR unit does just that.

The master bedroom here is similar in layout to the master bedroom of the 2BR Premium unit though bigger as the room comes with its own balcony.

The built-in wardrobe takes up two walls, at an angle and act as a semi walk-in wardrobe that overlooks the master bathroom. All the wardrobes in every unit are designed to have both drawers and spaces to hang clothes. It’s a small, pricey step for the developer to make but ultimately it benefits the owner to have partitions.

3BR master bedroom

After all, what use is a wardrobe if there aren’t sections for different types of clothing?

In closing, the units on display at the Park Place Residences showflat are classy and luxurious. Although there are three residential blocks, with only 429 units it is in the low-population spectrum meaning that there’s less people and more space.

That such an attractive home is in the city-fringe’s only integrated development is one plus point over many plus points. Park Place Residences has many things going for it and it should not be missed.