may 2017 bto - woodleigh hillside

DISCLAIMER:​​

1. Readers are advised to use information available here as study guide and use it at your own risk. 
2. Please note that changes/ update based on available information will be made from time to time, readers are advised to check on this page regularly.
3. Analysis was done based on available data at the time of publishing of this review.
4. As each and every unit has it's own attributes, analysis shown here only represent the majority units in the stacks having the same attribute including sun, wind, view, distance etc. 
   

woodleigh hillside

How Bidadari estate have evolved thus far? we have compiled all Bidadari developments into 1 single high resolution map indicating future developments as well as recent Woodleigh Glen and Woodleigh Hillside (note: we have excluded future development, Woodleigh Glen and Woodleigh Hillside from this thumbnail image). This high resolution map will be available (high resolution with no watermark) to paid subscribers for upcoming Woodleigh Hillside subscribers only. Contact us at: info@hausanalyst.com

Location

1. The nearest point of this site to the Woodleigh MRT starting from 360m diagonally. Those units within the 400m radius will be considered premium as planning parameter considered this distance as walkable while those further away technically should get price discounts.   
   
2. Being located at the edge of Bidadari Township has pros and cons to it. Towards the North, there’s low density private landed property while to the South, there’s the Bidadari Park. The downside of this development is that both will be cut off by roads which are Bartley Road to the North and Bidadari Park Drive to the South. You won’t want to cross the street just to enjoy the park or get some breather!
3. Based on URA Master plan 2014, this plot will not be the last in this immediate vicinity as there’s still more empty land to be developed in this area. 

 
Site Layout

1. This site was designed elongated along the east west axis, meaning a rectangular shape in a horizontal manner. With this (plot) design, the unit/ block arrangement should be facing North or South to minimize the west sun exposure while maximized wind exposures.  
   
2. Based on our preliminary analysis, there will be more than 28% of the units facing directly west, which will induce heat into the Living Room and all bedrooms directly. Based on early rendering of the development and floor plans provided, the sun shade which may not be more than 60cm deep will not be able to do the job (shading the interior from direct west sun).
3. The plot ratio of this plot was controlled at 2.8 which is lower than the earlier batches of Bidadari launches which were at 3.2 to 3.5. Higher plot ratio will result in more population having to stay within the same vicinity and sharing the same amenities like MSCP (multi storey parking), playground etc.
   

" ... So far am impressed with your service, your commitment to follow through. Will not fail to recommend u to anyone I know who wants to select a house." 
Mdm Loh (commercial banker, securities) | Alkaff Oasis

Unit Layout

1. In general, this development has a ‘clean’ layout which can accommodate future alteration. The columns which you as the homeowners not allow to hack have been designed at the perimeter to allow you to alter the internal layout base on your needs and requirement. In other words, if you are a couple without kid and wanting more space, you can go for a 3-rm and remove the partition wall in between the main bedroom and bedroom 2 to allow a bigger bedroom and alter the entrance to create a walk-in wardrobe into your now huge master bedroom. 
2. The kitchen orientation for 3-rm and 4-rm has been changed or made it look like it’s been changed from horizontal to vertical to accommodate more usable space. Why? The units here don’t have a yard anymore! So, the space which was supposed or used to be yard area, have been amalgamated into the kitchen area.     
3. Then, the next question will be, if there’s no yard, where can you hang the clothing? Rather than asking where can you hang the clothing, you should ask” even if you have one (which is the drying area) will it help?” Based on the current layout, direct sunlight in the yard or drying area will be tough and hard to come by for most of the units.
4. For 5-rm, there will be a variation where 1 bedroom being located at the back of the house. The rational for this arrangement would be sensible if the propose dining area is not in front of the room itself! The whole idea of placing the bedroom towards the back of the unit and placing the kitchen to the other side of the unit is to allow a differentiation between private (bedrooms) and public space (living, dining and kitchen). You don’t want to wake up in the middle of the day, walk out of the bedroom, heading to the bathroom and greeting any guess at the Living Room along the way! Of course, this alternate layout can be useful if you have a stay-in helper and you want to segregate her daily activities from yours.

 
How to choose the better unit from this development?

1. You need to look for a unit which allows reasonable wind flow, not having extra heat into your unit, having a good enough view to allow you to relax after a long day at work, knowing the future plan of your immediate surroundings so there won’t be any pollution while you are leading a healthy lifestyle!
2. You will never find 2 units which are being designed and located equally in terms of sun exposure, wind exposure, viewing potential, distance to amenities, etc. Thus, pricing should reflect that and to get the best bargain in this digital age of big data with discreet cherry picking would be utilizing 3D simulation to achieve it.   

"… choosing a unit based on site plan, compass direction do not tell us a lot of "hidden" attributes …"  
- Mr. Alex Leow (financial planning) Alkaff Courtview

Post 3D model analysis  (updated 2017 Aug 23)

Location

1. This development is located within a 500m radius from both Woodleigh MRT station and Bartley MRT station. 50% of the units here will be nearer to the Bartley MRT station as most of the units will be within the 500m radius distance. 
   
2. Many would have wished to have a view or glimpse towards the Alkaff Lake which is located to the South. Based on our analysis, few criteria need to be satisfied should you ‘expect’ a view towards the Alkaff Lake. First, what kind of existing vegetation or trees are populating the Bidadari Park, which will block your view towards the Alkaff Lake. The height of these trees will also determine if you can even see the surface of the water, so which level will allow you to have a better chance of having this view. 

Unit/ block Layout

1. All 5-rm stacks except stack 567 and 569 will consist of units with balcony and non balcony. Units with balcony will occupy level 11 to level 16. The difference with these balcony units will lie in having a green buffer in front or having roads immediately in front of these units. 
   
2. 4-rm units will have 3 standard variations. The differences will be mainly at the entrance, Living and Dining area. These differences were not indicated in the brochure. The differences will result in area efficiency whereby the space may become unusable, view from Living room being blocked or lesser usage area for Living and Dining.
   
3. There will be 2 types of glass window being used in this development (W1 and W2). W1 being the normal glass with a tinted layer while W2 will be ‘Thermochromic Glass’. What is Thermochromic glass? No information was given on this material in the brochure, note that the component may be different from that being used in 4 season country.
   
4. Based on our research from North America, here’s the description from Efficient Windows Collaborative (EWC), USA. (http://www.commercialwindows.org/thermochromic.php) “Thermochromic windows are the most advanced, yet simplest, dynamic window technology available and are quickly growing in popularity and being installed in many commercial, retail and residential buildings throughout the world. The thermochromic glass simply uses heat from direct sunlight to tint the windows when necessary. The more direct and intense the sunlight is on the glass the darker it will become. This allows the windows to drastically reduce the heat load coming into the building and because the glass transmission adapts continuously over a range of temperatures, a natural balance and maximum use of daylighting is achieved. By design, thermochromic windows help reduce glare, fading and noise, and increase safety.”
   
5. In short, this system will dispel much of the heat component, while allow the visible light component into the unit. The heat component will be dispelled to the immediate surrounding which of course will create a local heat island effect!
   
6. This development has many blocks with ‘corner units’ which was much like by the home owners due to its supposedly ‘privacy’ or the lack of neighbourliness!  These ‘corner units’ are actually a ‘dead zone’ area! Common sense will tell you that if all 3 or 4 units kept their door close, no cross ventilation will happen, thus still air will be stagnant right in front of your door step!  If any one of the owners left their entrance door open most of the time, this will defeat the purpose of wanting privacy, without it you get a still air! This situation can be traced to the many existing estate in Punggol, just ask any of those owners with this ‘corner unit’!  
   
7. Both Bartley Road and Bidadari Park Drive are of different road category which will allow early indication of how busy or noisy these roads will be. We have a record of both roads category which is not available in the public domain. LTA categorized road’s importance into 5 categories. Collecting existing noise level is not a sensible approach as the discrepancies will be very high and won’t reflect future conditions of these roads. Different level of building and surrounding will also affect the noise intensity as sound usually gravitate as it goes higher due to lesser objects and surface to bounce off. 

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