What makes Solitaire beautiful to come home to

Solitaire's beauty is a quiet kind. It is not in a facade or a lobby chandelier but in materials that feel warm to the hand, in rooms arranged so that everyone has privacy, and in a scatter of outdoor edges, decks and terraces, where the building meets the air. The homes Binga has handled on its eighth floor show that character most clearly, and they are the best guide to what the thirteen-storey building is like to live in.

Wood, not marble

The furnished three-bedroom-plus-one homes Binga has listed at Solitaire are finished in what their listings call a warm Japandi and modern Nordic style: natural oak accents, high-end built-in finishes, and a restraint that lets the view do some of the work. The serviced home let through Binga earlier this year was described in the same terms, with hospitality-grade finishing and warm, organic accents.

In a climate where so many interiors default to white tile and glass, wood changes the temperature of a room without touching the thermostat. Built-in joinery changes it in another way: storage that is part of the wall rather than a wardrobe against it, which keeps rooms clear and makes a rented home feel less temporary.

Privacy designed in

These are 3+1 plans of 1,160 to 1,260 square feet with four bathrooms, and one listing describes them as offering full en-suite privacy. Every bedroom has its own bathroom. It is the kind of detail that is invisible in a photograph and obvious by the second week: no queue in the morning, no guest walking through a bedroom, teenagers and parents and visitors each with a door of their own.

Two views from one floor

On the eighth floor, the listings describe two outlooks. One home looks across the city, with what its listing calls sweeping city vistas. Another faces the ocean. The developer describes the whole building as set against the backdrop of the Indian Ocean, and from eight storeys up either view is an open one. Which is more beautiful is a matter of temperament; the concierge can show both in one visit.

Where the building opens to the air

The shared spaces keep returning to the outdoors. The gym sits on a wooden deck. The infinity pool has loungers beside it and a kiddie pool alongside. The residents' clubhouse has a covered deck for the evenings, and the co-working space has indoor and outdoor areas, so a working day can move outside when the light is good. At street level, the retail and dining spaces are described with a street-café feel, indoor and outdoor seating together.

It is an unusually consistent idea: at almost every point where residents gather, there is a place to step out.

The small scale of the private spaces

Solitaire's own description makes a point of keeping some things small. The kids' club is described as intentionally small, a gentle and secure corner for babies and toddlers. The pool is described as genuinely private, a calm retreat rather than a crowded amenity. Scale is a design choice, and here it is used to make shared spaces feel like extensions of the home rather than a hotel's.

The desk has not been told who developed Solitaire, and the catalogue does not record it; the beauty described here is the building's own, as its description and the homes Binga has listed show it.