Singapore's colourful new Indian Heritage Centre mixes history and modernity
![The brand new Indian Heritage Centre in Singapore](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CLxfdYV3fWVFbPYZBs7nM-415-80.jpg)
The newly opened Indian Heritage Centre has finally given Singapore's ethnic Indian community a worthy home in which to showcase its cultural riches.
Created by New Zealand-born, Japan-trained, Singapore-based Robert Greg Shand Architects in collaboration with urban design consultants Urbnarc, this design has certainly paid dividends for the sensitive perspective and physical rendition of a culture that is almost 5,000 years old.
Located on Campbell Lane, a buzzy stretch in Little India lined with shophouses, cafes and vendors hawking curios, textiles and tchotchkes, the $12m building stands out with its distinctive transparent façade that layers a trellis of balconies over a huge colourful mural.
The brief, says Shand, was to embrace the vibrant streetscape of the area and its people. It also presented two immediate challenges. The first was to shoehorn a four-storey building with three galleries and community activity spaces into a triangular site that measures only 950 sq m. To that end, a lift doubles as a service lift for transporting exhibits and a passenger lift for visitors, while staircases act as main passages between the galleries and light wells, and windows that look out into Little India and the pedestrianised street below.
The second challenge was to design a building that avoided motifs that were too literal. 'Considering the diversity and multifaceted nature of the Singapore Indian community, we intentionally limited any direct references to traditional Indian architecture and art,' says Shand.
Here, the solution was the trellis of balconies and exposed staircases fronting the building's exterior that is based on the geometry of the baoli - a traditional Indian stepped well that is an important source of water and meeting point for Indian communities - and the peekaboo jali screen commonly found in Indian and Islamic architecture.
In keeping with the chaotic vibrancy of the neighbourhood, the colourful mural backing the trellis - currently, a splashy coloured collage of archival images of shophouses - will be changed regularly. This, says Shand, ensures the building is never static.
The centre is located on Singapore's Campbell Lane, a busy stretch in the Little India neighborhood
One of the project's challenges involved fitting three galleries as well as community activity spaces into a relatively small, triangular site
A distinctive colourful transparent façade makes the building stand out
It huge, brightly coloured mural will be changed regularly
The brief, explains Shand, was to embrace the vibrant streetscape of the area and its people. A combination of the layered, colourful facade and an open ground floor helps achieve this
The trellis of balconies and exposed staircases fronting the building's exterior is based on the geometry of the baoli - a traditional Indian stepped well
An open and welcoming lobby area on the ground floor greets guests...
...and leads through to the building's staircase system, which also acts as the main passage between galleries
A gift shop in the building's ground level references the area's vibrant shops
ADDRESS
Indian Heritage Centre
5 Campbell Lane
Singapore
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
A Hyderabad apartment blends soft minimalism and ‘tangible luxury’
A Hyderabad apartment by Studio Design Inc wows with its balanced design that brings together soft minimalism and tangible luxury
By Daven Wu Published
-
Discover Third Space, a multifunctional hub in the heart of Rajasthan
Third Space by Studio Saar is a multifunctional creative and learning hub in the heart of Rajasthan, uniting the community through ‘openness, accessibility, and inclusivity’
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Four Mumbai apartments are transformed into an art-filled contemporary home
Designer Rajiv Saini unites four Mumbai apartments in the Indian city’s Colaba district into a single, expansive, art-filled home for a family
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
India’s Hampi Art Labs is a piece of architecture at one with its content and context
The world-class Hampi Art Labs by Indian architect Sameep Padora, near South India’s Hampi Unesco World Heritage Site, mimics the contours of the nearby Tungabhadra River
By Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar Published
-
House of Greens in India’s Bengaluru is defined by its cascading foliage
Nestled in Bengaluru’s suburbs, House of Greens by 4site Architects encourages biophilic architecture by creating a pleasantly leafy urban jungle
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Surajkund Craft’s Northeast Pavilion in India is an exemplar in bamboo building
The Northeast Pavilion at the Surajkund Craft Fair 2023, designed by atArchitecture, wins Best Use of Bamboo in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2024
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
OpenIdeas has designed Link House, an expansive Gujarat family complex
Link House accommodates two households in high modern style in the Indian state of Gujarat, innovatively planned around the requirements of a large extended family
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
This Chandigarh home is a meditative sanctuary for multigenerational living
Residence 91, by Charged Voids is a Chandigarh home built to maintain the tradition of close family ties
By Tianna Williams Published