Resident architect gives Siglap South’s new community club a local touch

SINGAPORE – In Siglap, plans for a new integrated hub are taking shape – a project that reimagines what a community club can be.

At the centre of the development is a 240-seater black box theatre, envisioned as a space to bring performing arts into the heartland. The design will also incorporate multi-purpose sports courts for badminton, basketball and pickleball, as well as purpose-built co-working spaces.

The hub, slated for completion in 2029, will be built in Upper East Coast Road and will

replace the ageing, 64-year-old Siglap South Community Club just 500m away

.

But unlike other new community clubs, the design process for the coming Siglap building was spearheaded by a Siglap resident, architect Edmund Ng.

Mr Ng, 52, a Joo Chiat community volunteer who runs his own architecture firm, was asked in 2022 by Mr Edwin Tong, who is MP for the Joo Chiat ward, if he was keen to join a brainstorming session for ideas for a new community club.

But what began as a casual invitation to contribute to a potential new community centre became a deeply personal project – Mr Ng spent almost a year on research and crafting a proposal.

He spoke to residents to find out what they wanted, drove around the island to look at other community clubs and studied the history of the Siglap estate.

His eventual idea drew inspiration from Siglap’s history as a fishing village surrounded by plantations, and has a sloping green facade covered in native plants for the hub’s exterior.

Mr Ng said it will also feature layered terraces, reminiscent of agricultural fields that evoke Siglap’s plantation heritage.

The concept is what Mr Ng calls a “non-building” – a structure that seamlessly integrates with the natural environment.

There are also sustainable elements in the design. Lush greenery will act as a natural insulator to reduce energy use, rainwater will be harvested and reused, and solar panels will provide renewable energy.

“It’s not a building that you simply enter. It’s a place to climb, sit, walk and experience – a living, breathing part of the community,” said Mr Ng.

Mr Ng’s inputs will be provided to DP Architects, the firm which has been appointed lead architect, and used for execution of the project.

For Mr Ng, who came up with the design concept for free, working on the new community hub was a way to help build a legacy that reflects Siglap’s soul while also meeting the estate’s current and future needs.

He has been involved in the community since he and his wife moved into a landed property in Dunbar Walk in 2014.

Back then, they distributed some 300 fliers to neighbours in order to get to know them.

They told their neighbours they are not property agents and have no political associations. “We are just purely neighbours in the community and wanted to get to know each other,” Mr Ng said.

Within a week, some neighbours contacted them and the couple hosted a dinner for almost 40 of them.

Mr Ng and his wife would go on to set up an estate WhatsApp group chat for residents, which has since grown to 200 members.

Gradually, he started volunteering in community work in the estate, helping out at community events. He met Mr Tong on one such occasion, at a dialogue session with residents in 2015.

Mr Tong, who is also Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, said that to his knowledge, this project marks the first time an estate’s resident is playing such a pivotal role in shaping its integrated hub.

Speaking to the media on Dec 4, Mr Tong said for such projects, the People’s Association (PA) would typically first engage a professional team, and get volunteers to provide input at a later stage.

This time, the primary design came from Mr Ng and his team even before the PA was approached, said Mr Tong.

He had provided a brief to Mr Ng, asking that the design should blend in aesthetically with the estate and not look like a big, imposing structure.

The new hub, located about 650m from Siglap MRT station, will have a floor area of about 12,000 sq m. It will be about 30m tall, have four to five storeys, and a basement carpark with about 220 spaces.

Besides arts spaces, areas for community and commercial use, and sports facilities operated by Sport Singapore, the new hub will also house food and beverage outlets.

Mr Tong said he has engaged the eatery owners in the area and assured them that the new options are aimed at complementing the neighbourhood’s existing F&B operators.

“We will create parking spaces so that those who want to visit can park, walk across the road and visit a coffee shop. But we won’t have another chicken rice stall. We won’t compete with them,” said Mr Tong, adding that the hub will not have a hawker centre.

Mr Tong also said he intends to tap other Siglap residents to help with the design and programming for the arts theatre.

DP Architects director Teoh Hai Pin said the firm will refine and advance Mr Ng’s design and ensure that it meets technical, regulatory and functional requirements while staying true to its original intent.

“Through close collaboration with Mr Tong, Edmund Ng, grassroots leaders, and the community, DPA is committed to enriching the vision at every phase – from design development to completion,” added Mr Teoh.