Old Bukit Timah Fire Station to be hub for community

The former Bukit Timah Fire Station will reopen as a community node around the second quarter of next year, featuring a food street and allotment garden plots.

As a lifestyle hub that integrates urban farming, wellness and nature-based activities, the node will also house gardens for educational purposes and a farm-to-table restaurant, said the authorities in a statement yesterday.

Activities planned for the area will leverage its green setting, and include nature walks, farming classes, outdoor sports and yoga sessions, and experiential programmes for children.

The 0.83ha site, at the intersection of Old Jurong Road and Upper Bukit Timah Road, has seven three-storey accommodation blocks for firefighters, a single-storey residence for the station master, and a main fire station building built in 1956 and conserved in 2019.

After the station's operations ceased in 2005, the site was leased for dining and community uses, with some of the tenants' leases ending last year.

The planned node is about 600m from the upcoming Hume MRT station, which is due to open in 2025.

It is also close to various heritage and nature landmarks in the Upper Bukit Timah area, such as the Former Ford Factory, Bukit Batok Memorial, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Bukit Batok Nature Park.

Those traversing the 24km Rail Corridor and the 36km Coast-to-Coast Central Trail can also make a pit stop at the new node.

Homestead Holland, a consortium comprising real asset management company Homestead Group Asia and investment firm TE Capital Partners, was awarded the tender for the project as part of a global competition, Reinventing Cities, that seeks ideas to transform underused sites or buildings sustainably.

The consortium worked with several collaborators, including Singapore-based French architectural designers WY-TO, local firm Provolk Architects, conservation consultancy Studio Lapis, urban farmers Edible Garden City, and placemaking studio Shophouse & Co.

WY-TO managing director Yann Follain, who co-leads the project, said the winning proposal centred on the theme "good food, good life", and that food sustainability will be at the heart of the node.

"We want visitors to learn about food production and food waste management, and hope that they will learn to consume in a way that makes them and the earth happy," he said, adding that the tenant mix will be announced at a later date.

He said the node will be inclusive and eateries will cater to various budgets.

Fellow co-lead Jonathan Poh of Provolk Architects said the team decided to centre its project on food as it is the "national pastime".

He said visitors will learn about the circularity of food - produce from the ground will be prepared and served, while food waste can return to the ground as fertiliser.

Homestead Holland's tenancy of three years will begin around the end of this year, and is renewable by another two equivalent terms.

National Development Minister Desmond Lee said the station master's residence will be repurposed by NParks into a visitor centre to showcase Singapore's nature parks. He said the authorities will explore plans to link the former fire station to the Rail Corridor trail and Bukit Batok Nature Park.

URA had announced in 2015 that several community nodes will dot the Rail Corridor.