Goodlife! Makan Singapore, recreational cooking, dining and activity centre, Architecture Images

Goodlife! Makan Singapore

Building at 52 Marine Terrace, Southeast Asia – design by DP Architects

30 + 29 Sep 2016

Goodlife! Makan

Design: DP Architects

Location: 52 Marine Terrace, Singapore

Goodlife! Makan

Goodlife! Makan, a recreational cooking, dining and activity centre for stay-alone seniors at the converted void deck of 52 Marine Terrace in Singapore, has been awarded two prestigious accolades at Singapore Institute of Architects’ (SIA) Architectural Design Awards 2016.

Photos and diagrams : DP Architects

29 SEPTEMBER 2016, 8.30PM (GMT+8)

Goodlife! Makan, an innovative social project designed by DP Architects,
wins two prestigious Singapore Institute of Architects Architectural Design Awards

THURSDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2016 (SINGAPORE) – Goodlife! Makan, a recreational cooking, dining and activity centre for seniors at the converted void deck of 52 Marine Terrace in Singapore, has been awarded two prestigious accolades at Singapore Institute of Architects’ (SIA) Architectural Design Awards 2016. For its groundbreaking design concept, Goodlife! Makan was conferred the SIA Architectural Design Award in the Alterations & Additions category, beating out 6 shortlisted entrants, and was specially acknowledged by SIA as the “Best Project with Construction Budget of less than S$2 million”. Goodlife! Makan was one of only two projects to win SIA’s special jury awards (the other being “Building of the Year”), chosen from a total of 26 award winners that night.

On the accolade, lead designer and DP Architects’ director Seah Chee Huang said, “We are humbled by the awards and kind acknowledgement by fellow architectural fraternity members on this extremely meaningful project. We are very thankful to have worked with an enlightened client, on pioneering this prototype of a community space which reintegrates stay-alone elderly into society through the simple but powerful notion of food, in a borderless and vibrant setting. The design acts as a catalyst for alternative ways to reimagine and create a more purposeful and inclusive built environment, especially in the face of our rapidly greying social fabric. The Singapore Institute of Architects Architectural Design Award further serves as a motivation for local architects to actively partake in design that has a positive social impact on our community.”

The successful concept of Goodlife! Makan lies in how it supports ageing-in-place and meaningful pastimes that address the physical and mental wellness of seniors, through an initiative created by Montfort Care. Measuring 360sqm, the design articulates the client’s aims through its open plan and communal kitchen at its nucleus. The place aims largely at reconnecting stay-alone elderly to the wider community to facilitate multi-generational exchanges. With cooking and dining together as the essence of the experience, the activity space provides opportunities for senior residents to interact and socialise, while developing roles and responsibilities from the rituals of food preparation and consumption.

The design capitalised on its porous void deck setting to create a colourful, open and fenceless compound, to reduce social stigma and shift away from conventional gated or glazed-up elderly activity centre models. As a result, Goodlife! Makan is an inviting communal space allowing for much cross-ventilation and daylight.

The awards ceremony was held at Conrad Centennial Singapore on September 29, 2016.

Additional Notes:

Quick Facts about Goodlife! Makan:

12 Programmed Zones within an Open Plan (Area: 360sqm)
1. Reading Area
2. Entertainment Area
3. Inspiration Corner
4. Conversation Corner
5. Place of Gathering
6. ‘Makan’ Area
7. Service Area
8. Cooking Area
9. Washing-up Area
10. Toilet
11. Lockers
12. Staff/Volunteer Office

FOOD AS CORE
The design concept takes inspiration from the influences of the key East Coast locale, typically known for its richly diverse food heritage. The design also explores how the ritual of food preparation and consumption can be a generator of refreshing culinary and social experiences that bring not just elderly, but also friends and the wider community together. To begin, the design transformed the void deck into a social nucleus centered around the communal activity of food. The element of makan (the Malay word for ‘eat’) has the power to transcend race, religion and age.

A BRIGHT, BORDERLESS AND POROUS COMPOUND
Respecting the spatial quality of a void deck, the design capitalised on its porous setting to create an open and fenceless compound, to reduce social stigma and address the psyche of the stay-alone seniors. The experimental design shifts away from conventional gated or glazed-up elderly activity centre models to create an inviting communal space, seamlessly integrated with surrounding streets and walkways.

This notion of openness extends to the interior space where the kitchen component forms the vibrant heart of the open plan, around which spaces were organised to complement the preparation and partaking of food.

A VIBRANT AND INCLUSIVE SETTING
Aligning with the client’s vision of ageing as an active and lively process, a bright and vivid palette of colours and textures are used to create a distinctive and vibrant setting for the seniors. An integrated furniture and shelving system housing full-bodied local spices, food ingredients and utensils are employed as wider textural indicators to reinforce the refreshing colour zoning and subtle differentiation of the zones. The sense of inclusivity extends to the details of the iconography that transcend beyond text and words as the universal language to communicate with elderly from all languages and ethnic backgrounds.

About DP Architects

Founded in 1967, DP Architects was one of the firms responsible for the urban landscape of Singapore. Now a leading architectural practice in Asia with over 1,200 staff and 17 offices worldwide, the firm provides a range of services from architecture, urban planning, landscape design, infrastructure design, engineering, sustainable design and interior design to project management. DP Architects has a long history in a wide variety of projects with a particular expertise in vast undertakings such as Suntec City, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay and The Dubai Mall. Recent landmark projects include Resorts World Sentosa and Singapore Sports Hub. The firm was founded with a deep concern for the built environment and the need to create architecture of excellence that enriches the human experience and spirit. Sensitive to their context and the environment, DP Architects’ projects aim to improve the quality of life of the people using the buildings and spaces.

About Seah Chee Huang

Seah Chee Huang joined DP Architects in 2003 and was appointed Director in 2014. In his architectural pursuit, Chee Huang has always been interested in exploring how architecture can be an effective social vehicle, purposefully designed to engage minds, touch hearts and inspire lives. Some of these explorations include Singapore Sports Hub, Our Tampines Hub project as well as the latest Sembawang Community Hub. He is also passionate about Corporate Social Responsibility efforts and leads key initiatives by DP Architects like Goodlife! Makan and Project Bus Stop.