Macpherson Weave (May 2021 Build-To-Order)

disclaimer: ​​
1. Readers are advised to use information available here as study guide only and use it at your own risk. 
2. Please note that changes/ update based on updated 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 this review being published.

MacPherson Weave is the 4th development to be developed within the 400m radius from the MacPherson MRT station (DT26) since 2012. To the South of the MacPherson MRT station, there are MacPherson Blossom (SERS) and MacPherson Spring which was launched in February 2015. To the North, MacPherson Residency, was launched back in March 2012 and have entered MOP since late last year. Base on information from URA masterplan 2019, this development will be the last residential within this vicinity till at least year 2028.  

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1. Geylang, as part of the central planning region, covers a wide area which includes subzones like Aljuneid, MacPherson, Geylang East, Kampung Ubi and Kallang Way. Out of these 5 subzones, only 3 subzones have high concentration of residential development. Apart from MacPherson Spring at MacPherson subzone, we have spread out the pricing analysis over the rest of Geylang to give a better picture of this planning region. From the year 2017 onwards, it’s obvious that Ubi Grove have been the most affordable subzone to call a home. The question is, why?

2. HDB have indicated the pricing for a 4-rm at MacPherson Weave range from S$489,000 to S$626,000. This pricing is almost on par with units launched at Dakota One a year ago. The resale prices at MacPherson Residency range from S$635,000 to S$800,000. The current launch price translates to almost a 27% discount from the current resale market. With limited units within this immediate vicinity, the risk will be the future potential upside. Several existing blocks with remaining lease of 62 years may hold the key to the future price upside as SLA leasehold table have reflected this.

If you are keen to know how to have an upper hand in the BTO system, do join us when we arrange our limited sharing session in coming weeks. We will share the timing of our sharing session via our Telegram channel. Please click on icon here to connect.

1. Heat have been a sticky issue in Singapore due to its locality and will continue to be the same or worst in the foreseeable future due to climate change as well as rapid urbanisation and redevelopment activities. National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF) (https://www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Resources/Ideas-and-Trends/Beat-the-heat) have funded  ‘Cooling Singapore’ initiative, which consist of multi-institutional initiative led by Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC), NUS, SMART and TUM CREATE to look into ways to reduce heat in Singapore since 2017 (https://www.coolingsingapore.sg/). Back in June 2020, Cooling Singapore released their findings on ‘Urban Heat Vulnerability Analysis for Singapore’ which clearly indicates which town in Singapore is more vulnerable to heat impact.
(https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/handle/20.500.11850/419689)

“The UHV index (Urban Heat Vulnerability) is used to measure the effects of physical exposure, demographic sensitivity and socio-economic adjustment parameters. ... The findings help to define areas where heat mitigation measures are needed most, in order to ensure the protection of the population.” - Cooling Singapore  

2. The best way to reduce heat intake is by minimising the direct exposure. In Singapore, we try to avoid heat intake from the west sun (afternoon sun) due to Singapore being located along the equator, which mean closer to the sun than other part of Earth. Since Earth rotate at a slanted angle of 23.5 degrees at its axis, North and South facing buildings will have direct west sun exposure as well, the difference is when and how often. Please watch the video here to have a better understanding of the above.
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment for west sun impact (2pm-4pm) shown that up to 60% of the stacks here will have west sun impact. Therefore, we give a score of 2 out of total 4 for this attribute.

1. The Sun is 147.84 million km away from Earth, that’s more than 3,689 times the circumference of the Earth. The Sun is too far away for us to control its impact. The radius of the Sun is 109x the radius of the Earth. The size of the Sun should speak volume about the difference (if any) in terms of heat intake. On the other hand, wind is closer to home as it happens on Earth. We can either take advantage of it or lose it, we can’t control it. In Singapore, we enjoy prevailing wind during the monsoon season with wind speed of 6-10 km/h. (NEA-weatherwise Singapore). Knowing when and which direction the prevailing wind happens may help to mitigate the heat impact due to west sun exposure.  
 
2. There’s 1 in 16 chances of having the luxury of facing a specific prevailing wind direction, which happens 20% of the days in a year (based on MSS’s wind data recorded at Changi station from 2014-2017). The next best option would be 3 in 16 chances of facing the prevailing wind, which happens at least 10% in a year (excluding the above). Mechanical ventilation like air-conditioning can never replace natural ventilation as mechanical mean is mainly contained (meaning the same air will circulate in the same room), while natural ventilation allows air changes between external (outdoor) and internal (indoor) spaces.
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment for prevailing wind exposure shown that 25% of the stacks here will enjoy prevailing wind exposure which happen at best 70 days in a year. Therefore, we give a score of 2 out of total 4 for this attribute.

"After our first introductory session with Soon Ching, we were impressed with his extensive knowledge and his willingness to share his industrial experiences with us in search of our ideal unit. Much effort can be seen from the reports prepared and the 3D model was very professionally done. There was no pressure throughout the introductory session, he made sure we felt comfortable and ensured that we understood the many factors involved in choosing the right unit even though our queue number was not very ideal. 

As our queue number was towards the 80th percentile, we faced more challenges picking our unit so we decided to engage Soon Ching about a week before our selection date. The report, data and in particular the sun shading analysis coupled with the window views, together with a simulated view of a person standing in opposing unit could all be rendered and viewed in his 3D model giving us a contextualized sense of distance and scale. The above mentioned information were essential to our decision making as it highlighted the attributes of our ideal unit helping us to zoom into our unit of choice. We are immensely grateful for his patience and willingness to bring us through our choices and accommodating our requests to view multiple units the night before our appointment date. With his help, we were more confident in our selection and also very happy that we managed to secure our choice of unit!  

His service is definitely worth the investment. Highly recommend his service! Thank you Soon Ching."

Mr. Marvin and Ms. Janice Yeong | Bartley Beacon 4-rm 2021

1. The viewing angle is 1 of the 3 attributes which can be determined by the planner or architect during the planning stage. They can either maximise the number of units with good viewing angle or just design to maximise the allowable number of units without consideration for good viewing angle. Both are mutually exclusive as higher land yield will lead to more building blocks or taller building blocks which will affect the units viewing angle.
 
2. The viewing angle took into account the human eye’s coverage as well as the distance one can see things and identify objects at 1m height objectively. This attribute will filter situation where the building frontal distance, maybe spacious enough, but the viewing corridor have been greatly reduced due to narrower coverage (reason like the placement of buildings in front which adversely reduced the maximum view).    
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment for viewing angle shown that at least 25% of the stacks here will enjoy a good viewing angle (50m for stacks at and lower than 18 storey and 100m for stacks above 18 storey). Therefore, we give a score of 2 out of total 4 for this attribute. 

1. The noise exposure is the 2 of the 3 attributes which can be determined by the planner or architect during the planning stage. The planner can plan the town by segregating the land use base on activity, reduce roads, etc., while the architect can create buffer to block the adverse effect of noise or use creative way to reduce the surrounding noise impact. As a homeowner, you can make a better judgement by knowing the distance from a potential noise source and how the noise impact will reduce with distance.
 
2. The understanding of noise disturbance in Singapore is still lacking though it’s a prevailing issue in recent years especially in the housing estate. NEA has since identified the 3 main noise disturbance sources as Vehicular noise, Construction noise and Industrial noise. On top of these 3 major noise disturbance sources, we have further identified minor noise disturbance source such as social, mechanical, vehicular (minor), religious, educational, etc.
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment for noise disturbance shown at least 1 major and 3 minor noise disturbance will affect this development. Therefore, we give a score of 2 out of total 4 for this attribute. We assign 3 points for each major noise source and 1 point for each minor noise source.

1. The building distance is the 3rd attributes which can be determined by the planner or architect during the planning stage. The planner and architect will need to make a judgement call about how to balance the yield (number of units) as well as ensuring a good building distance between the building blocks. Please note that a good building distance does not translate to a good viewing angle.
 
2. In 2010, URA introduced an industry guide to control the building length to prevent ‘wall-like’ developments. This guideline is mainly to control the distance between the side of 2 buildings rather than the distance between 2 buildings facing each other to break a ‘wall-like’ building blocks. HDB does have an internal guideline to dictate the distance between building facing each other, but it’s not a regulation. 
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment for building distance shown that up to 41% of the stacks here will enjoy a good building distance (50m for stacks at and lower than 18 storey and 100m for stacks above 18 storey). Therefore, we give a score of 2 out of total 4 for this attribute.

We rate this development with an overall score of 10 out of 20

Our scoring scale

Sun, Wind, View, Distance
0 - 25%      > 1 pt
26 - 50%   > 2 pt
51 - 75%     > 3 pt
76 - 100% > 4 pt

Noise (Major noise source > 3 pt; Minor noise source > 1 pt)
> 7 pt      > 1pt
4 - 6 pt   > 2pt
1 - 3 pt     > 3pt
0 pt         > 4pt

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