The Club

Ministry of Design has reinvented a row of Singapore shophouses as a chic, contemporary hotel that nevertheless references Singapore’s colonial heritage.

The Club wraps a street corner on Chinatown’s Ann Siang Hill, one of few elevated settings in the flat (or flattened) city state. In the early days of mercantile Singapore, the knoll must have afforded good views of the then-nearby seashore, its proximity provoking a concentration of cheap accommodation and remittance shops. Parallels drawn between the transient tenants of this past and the commercial traveller of today are a launching point for this project.

The Club is the first foray of Harry’s Hospitality into hotels, its usual business being a very popular chain of occidentally-oriented bars. Ministry of Design (MOD) developed the concept and branding for the property and designed the accomm-odation and public area interiors and graphics. Jane Yeo, experienced in creating Harry’s more traditional drinking holes, was responsible for the off-lobby lounge and basement tapas bar, both of which revel in much deeper tones, primarily red.

Unique layouts And tailored artwork make each of the twenty-two rooms distinct.

Unique layouts And tailored artwork make each of the twenty-two rooms distinct.

Image: Edward Hendricks

The L-shaped building of the Club was originally a row of shophouses, a Singapore typology of storage or retail space at ground floor and living space above. Over the years, the individual slices were consolidated and the interiors merged and stripped. Despite its apparently orderly exterior (unified by fresh white paint), the envelope did not yield any “typical” room types – rather a chocolate box of different forms and flavours.

The hotel is entered from a chamfered corner, the lobby formed a little like the famous Aalto vase. A cloud of folded fabric drops from the ceiling, obscuring the outlook of a super-sized Sir Stamford Raffles, reminding us of the other great colonial hotel in this city.

Artwork by Wyn-Lyn Tan, inky sketches of plum branches on the walls and swallows in relief on the ceilings, leads us to the guest rooms on the second and third floors. The curvilinear corridors are simply finished with white paint and silvery carpet, but the door to each room presents a safe-like assemblage of rotating cogs and levers. These discs, in lieu of the usual swingtags, communicate messages like “I need nothing, I feel content” and “Order for me (please make up my room).”

The twenty-two rooms are monochromatically decorated with a restrained palette of three materials – carpet, timber and paint, accented by a suite of shiny lamps. Each room on the floor is unique, space dominating structure in all but one, where the columns are used to advantage in the creation of a posted bed. Fabrics and carpets are white and a silky, sterling grey. The room extends through glass into a bathroom of super-scaled black and white diamonds with a console-like vanity.

Public areas are furnished with a curated selection of classic and custom pieces. The rooftop pavilion serves dual purpose as breakfast room and bar. Its sunny terrace transforms before sunset at seven as the tables fill with young professionals, and the mood of the main room is modulated by varicoloured light emitting from punched patterns on walls and ceiling.

Nimbly navigating between the aesthetic extremes of containerized “international travel modern” and op shop baroque, MOD has created in the Club a cool, compelling and personable retreat. A contemporary take on colonial chic that, in celebrating historical context, defines an experience unique to – and unique in – Singapore.

Products and materials

Walls
Armour coated white; white paint and perforated metal from EDZ.
Flooring
Tiles from EDZ; Carpet from Umi Carpeting; Black tile to elevator from Eletec.
Lighting
Halogen downlights and LEDs from EDZ; Other lighting from Light Phase.
Furniture
Lobby chairs from Lorgan Design Source; Other furniture from Sofa and Others.
Finishes
Curtains from Serba Antic.
Bathrooms
Sanitary from Wan Tai & Co.

Credits

Project
The Club
Design practice
Ministry of Design (MOD)
Singapore
Project Team
Colin Seah, Kevin Leong, Joyce Van Saane, Cheryl Lum, Don Castaneda, Bryan Law, Danis Sie, Roberto Rivera, Lolleth Alejandro
Consultants
Artist Wyn-Lyn Tan
Interior design Jane Yeo Design Consultants
Site Details
Location Singapore
Site type Urban
Project Details
Status Built
Construction 6 months
Website theclub.com.sg
Category Commercial, Hospitality, Interiors

Source

Project

Published online: 1 Dec 2010
Words: Fiona Nixon
Images: Edward Hendricks

Issue

Artichoke, December 2010

Related topics

More projects

See all
The facade’s tinted glass reflects the surroundings, while vertical panels evoke a eucalypt forest. Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C. by Bates Smart

The design practice’s second embassy building in the United States retains the material tactility of the first, but it demonstrates a more sophisticated layering of …

A subtle angle in the doors to the deck encourages occupants to look toward the ocean. Jan Juc House by Eldridge Anderson Architects

Evolving and refining the forms of our coastal towns’ once-ubiquitous housing stock, this new residence celebrates an enduring affection for the unassuming beach shack.

LATEST PRODUCTS