Ever since their inception in the 1960s, HDBs have gone through some major glow-ups. When they were first introduced, they weren’t just modest apartments—they were lifelines, offering urgent shelter for families displaced from squatter settlements. Among them are 3-room HDB flats, which have undergone the biggest caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation.
While they were initially basic units designed to meet urgent housing needs, 3-room flats now cater to the modern lifestyle with efficient layouts and features. To see how far they’ve evolved, we’ve traced the major changes in each era of 3-room HDB flats.
1950s-1970s: The early years
Image credit: HDB
3-room flats—and HDBs as a whole—were conceptualised to resolve the issues originating from unregulated squatter settlements. For most, these flats weren’t just bricks and mortar, but the stepping stones to a better life.
As a result, the flat layouts were mostly focused on providing essential living spaces and basic amenities compared to the more primitive facilities of kampung homes.
Image credit: SRX
3-room flats in this era were primarily around 645-700sqft, and featured similar layouts to flats you’d see today, with 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen, and a living room. A select few 3-room units even had a balcony incorporated into its layout.
Image credits: @shiokchua
1980s-2000s: New-generation flats
Image credit: HDB
Over the years, the layouts of 3-room HDB flats would generally become more spacious, which is the biggest difference in comparison to the previous era. They were typically around 720sqft. A larger variant of the 3-room that measured around 880 sqft called the “3½-room New Modified” was introduced soon after, though these were exceedingly rare.
Image credit: Comfort Home Interior
Additionally, the 1990s saw a greater priority on building larger flat types, resulting in 3-room HDBs not being built at all. HDB only resumed production on an ad-hoc basis in 1998.
Image credit: Authors In Style
2000s onwards: Modernisation & efficiency
Eventually, 3-room HDBs enjoyed regular production again after the introduction of the BTO scheme to provide a diverse range of flat types to meet different needs and budgets.
The 2000s onwards saw the modernisation of HDB flats but also the downsizing of them. This is largely due to the need for optimised land use, resulting in smaller but more efficiently built flats. 3-room flats were standardised to measure 646 sqft in this era, although it also brought about a more strategic use of space with the introduction of open-concept kitchens that ditched the walls to merge the living and dining areas together.
![3 Room (Type 1H) BTO Package [Yishun Glen]](https://i0.wp.com/directcurtain.com/media/2023/09/BTO-Curtain-Package-3-Room-Type-1H-Yishun-Glen-Floorplan-watermark.jpg?w=1080&ssl=1)
Image credit: Direct Curtain
Additionally, flats nowadays have adopted a more circular layout, with rooms arranged according to a central core. Sure, they may be tinier than before, but modern HDBs are cleverly designed to hide that fact.
The early 2000s also saw the introduction of the now iconic household bomb shelters, which have become one of the more dreaded sections of any HDB to renovate. Despite that, some homeowners have still found ways to creatively renovate them.
Image credit: The Interior Lab
Ultimately, the biggest difference in HDBs from the early 2000s to those today is the innovative approach to home renovations. Homeowners are no longer settling for cookie-cutter designs and layouts, and instead are constantly pushing the boundaries of interior design from creating faux skylights transforming it into a wonderland of curves.
Image credit: Three Haus works
How 3-room HDBs have changed over the years
Even now, Singapore’s urban landscape continues to experience rapid development, fueled by ongoing technological advancements. As a result, it’s likely that HDBs will undergo significant changes in the future. After all, they are often a reflection of the social climate, and play a crucial role in meeting evolving social needs.
Read our other articles here:
- 8 most unique 3-room HDB renovations
- Cheapest 3-room HDB resale flats in Singapore
- How to rent a 3-room flat from as low as $400/month
Cover image adapted from: Wikimedia Commons, rememberinghdbestates
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