Fronting the bustling street life of Chinatown, within the Bukit Pasoh Conservation Area, is where No. 277/279 shophouse resides. Its name came from Coleman Bridge, a new bridge constructed over the Singapore River back then. And due to the merging of Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road in the late 1980s, an eight-lane dual-carriageway was constructed. A conservation status was accorded to New Bridge Road on 7 July 1989.

We were therefore tasked to restore and revitalise the Shophouse. For the reason of bringing back the heritage beauty of the property while upgrading its facility to meet the modern standard of living.

Status:

Completed 2018

Getting influence from both Art Deco style and Modern, the pair of shophouse is a hybrid style, exhibiting simpler geometric motifs in contrast to earlier shophouses. Accentuated with a dark colour were the horizontal ornaments and window frames while the vertical columns used a more subtle grey.

We carried out one-for-one replacements for window and doors in non-working condition with the same design and profile. Because old shophouse’s iron parts tend to become misaligned and rusty after a long period of time. Those that were still in good conditions however were retained and made good.

Its colour palette followed through the interior of the shophouses, with a selection of patterned tiles and wall painting along the staircase. Simple lines and geometry shapes was also used to add a modern twist within the interior space of the staircase.

Keeping as close to the origins, the overall interior layout of the shophouses had minor adjustments made, for commercial use on 2nd and 3rd storey and home office on the 4th storey. A more warm and neutral palette was used to revitalize the interior space for modern shop use.