The M Project Review: Contemporary Home/Work Living in the Heart of the City

As the Rochor area is known for a wide range of retail, entertainment and dining options, residents will not need to go far at all to enjoy a great lifestyle, especially with Orchard Road and Raffles Place being just five-minutes away each by car according to Google Maps. Even better, the 16,000 sq ft commercial space located at the base of the development boasts a full array of shops and restaurants when completed, adding to the area’s bustling vibe.

The M has a site coverage of over 80,000 sq ft, sitting along the eastern end of prime Middle Road, nestled by major commercial developments, 5-star luxury heritage hotels, branded shopping malls and infinite dining options and food markets.

For instance, Tekka Market, the Golden Mile Food Centre, Albert Centre, Glutton Bay, Hong Lim Market, and North Bridge Road Market & Food Centre are all close by when hunger strikes. For retail therapy, residents can enjoy shopping to their heart’s content at the nearby shopping malls such as Bugis Junction, Bugis+, Suntec City Mall, Raffles City, and Peninsula Shopping Centre.

The M is also great for families, as some of the island’s best educational institutions are located just a short distance away, ranging from primary schools to universities (see below).

Furthermore, as mentioned, the convenience of The M’s location is another major attribute, as it is within a four- to five-minute walk of three major MRT stations, namely Bugis MRT Interchange Station for the East-West and Downtown Lines, the City Hall MRT Interchange Station for the North-South and East-West Lines, and the Esplanade MRT Station on the Circle Line. The Condo also offers convenient and easy access to Orchard Road, downtown CBD and the Marina Bay Financial District.

By Distance:

• Bugis MRT interchange (DT14 EW12) – 350m
• Esplanade MRT Station (CC3)- 600m
• City Hall MRT Station (EW13 NS25) – 700m

Groceries / Shopping

• Bugis Junction – 70m
• Bugis Point – 130m
• Bugis Cube – 170m

Schools

• Singapore Management University (SMU) – 400m
• School Of The Arts (SOTA), Singapore – 800m
• Kaplan Singapore – 870m

Other schools located nearby include:

• PCF Kampong Glam 462 Kindergarten
• Rosemary Hall Montessori Kindschool
• Kampong Kune Methodist
• Stamford Primary School
• St. Margaret’s Primary School
• Riverdale Senior High School
• Exerceo Business School

Residents an also look forward to direct access to Nicoll Highway, as well as easy connectivity to major expressways such as CTE and ECP.

The M Site plan and Facilities: What else we liked

Inspired by the location of The M, Wing Tai announced an innovative and first-of-its-kind three-year partnership initiative with LaSalle College of the Arts, to create and integrate art with a Bohemian vibe into the project. The move saw Wing Tai is one of the first to collaborate with a design school to integrate art from a holistic approach at the start of the project to help artists better capture the project’s spirit, and together identify indoor and outdoor spaces at The M where art could best be incorporated.

We also liked subtle nuances such as the fact that the apartments are elevated 9m above the facilities deck (equivalent to three floors for a typical development), hence the apartments at The M are elevated seven floors above street level, thus allowing uninterrupted views of Orchard Road and CBD, and glimpses of Marina Bay and the Kallang Basin.

The homes also include Smart features such as touchless wave scanner supported by facial recognition access for residents and heat recovery solution that recovers waste heat from air conditioners to heat up water in bathrooms.

The M: Interior fittings and design

To cater to the changing lifestyle needs of young professionals, the studio and one-bedroom units feature a novel home/work design concept to allow living areas to be transformed into workspaces. Innovative provisions to effortlessly and seamlessly transform a home space into an office space and vice versa include:

– Dual-use movable, multi-function kitchen counter-top

– Integrated kitchen cabinetry with dining/work table

– Ceiling storage space

– Movable sliding wardrobe that doubles up as a workplace storage cabinet

Bathrooms are fitted with an LED light box above the mirror that looks like a skylight, with three different lighting modes for perfect lighting for any use.

The long kitchen countertop doubles up as either a dining table or a meeting table; or it can be moved anywhere across the room and converted into a bar counter. The dual-use movable kitchen countertop is also designed to neatly cover the entire kitchen counter, and then can slide out to reveal the sink and induction hob also.

The kitchen cabinets are fitted with translucent glass and illuminated within, hence doubling up as secondary display cabinets when required. Additional deep storage space is provided above the kitchen cabinets, which is big enough to fit suitcases, or just used as a lavish display cabinet.

The M: Layouts and floorplan

Offering a home for everyone from single professionals and couples to large families, the M @Middle Road condo development include a diverse range of unit styles and sizes, with studio and one- to three-bedroom units sized between 409 sq ft and 904 sq ft as mentioned previously.

Of the 522 units in the project:

– 233 or 45% are a mix of studios, one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus study apartments sized from 409 to 527 sq ft;

– 52% of the units are a mix of two-bedroom and two-bedroom-plus study units, with sizes from 592 to 764 sq ft;

– the remaining 17 units are three-bedroom, dual-key units sized at 904 sq ft each. These dual-key units can be split into a standalone studio and a two-bedroom apartment, which appeals to both investors and owner-occupiers alike.

The M Layouts and Floorplan: What we like

– Wing Tai’s home/work concept has become its trademark for this luxurious development, and we like the idea of efficient and flexible units fitted with “transformer furniture” incorporated for added versatility and changeable flexibility according to the needs of the residents. For instance, the studios come with sliding wardrobes in the living area. If the space is used as a workplace, the wardrobes can be used as storage space instead.

– The one-bedroom-plus-study unit comes with an additional concealed double-storage space which houses a pull-out table that can double as a dining table and workspace for three people.

– Another added feature of the one-bedroom units is the illuminated wardrobe in the bathroom.

– The two-bedroom-plus-study units are designed to be flexible such that they can accommodate up to four residents. In addition to the two bedrooms, the study can also be turned into a bedroom, complete with a wardrobe and space for a bed and a small desk. Finally, the living room, which comes with a balcony, can also be turned into the fourth bedroom by adding a partition wall.