Katong-Joo Chiat heritage comes alive

Students and architects add colour and life to public spaces with fun installations, mural and benches. 

From giant kuehs kueh sculptures to a playful take on the traditional Tiffin carrier and a reimagination of the former jetty along Marine Parade Road, creative public installations have appeared along the Katong-Joo Chiat neighbourhood, giving residents and visitors new reasons to pause, explore and connect. These displays were inspired by strong community interest for more meaningful public spaces in the area, gathered during the Historic East Identity Corridor discussions, where Katong-Joo Chiat is a part of. They are on display as part of the Singapore Archifest 2025. 

Over 2,300 residents and stakeholders shared their ideas and aspirations from July 2024 to May 2025 for three Identity Corridors — Historic East, Inner Ring and Kallang River — as part of the URA Draft Master Plan 2025 public engagement. Identity Corridors were identified as part of the 2022 Long-Term Plan Review to deepen efforts in strengthening the heritage and identities of stretches of land across Singapore that are characterised by familiar and prominent landmarks, neighbourhoods and streets.

Responding to these ideas, URA is now planning a new pedestrian mall along East Coast Road, between i12 Katong and Katong V. The pedestrian mall will feature landscaping, seating, and open spaces, for more comfortable strolling and gathering.

Map showing the location of the various installations

In the meantime, savour and enjoy the many enhanced public spaces that celebrate Katong-Joo Chiat’s rich heritage. These improvements are supported by the Lively Places Fund and URA’s public space programme, which aim to create more vibrant, memorable and engaging public spaces across Singapore.

Kueh Kueh at Katong¹  
By Tan Jia Yue, Poon Jun Zhe and Yeo Hai Feng, Singapore University of Technology and Design students, with SAA Architects, a member company of SJ Group

Kueh Kueh at Katong was inspired by the Nonya confections made in local kitchens — their steamed ridges, translucent layers, blue-pea flower and coconut blends. Inside, interlocking furniture pieces shift and rearrange like recipes passed down through generations. These modular pavilions, installed at the front lawn of the former Joo Chiat Police Station, invite residents and visitors to gather and celebrate the neighbourhood’s rich heritage.

Archipavilion 
By RT+Q Architects

A striking three-dimensional reimagination of the Archifest Singapore logo creates a cosy space where visitors can relax and be part of the neighbourhood buzz whilst catching up with one another. The installation has been adorned with a “croshade”, a shading canopy formed by crochet pieces, conceptualised by curator-crocheter artist Edwin Goh, who worked with the community on this project.

Sit in with tiffin²
By Zahira Shofwatunnisa and Nikhita George, Singapore University of Technology and Design students, with RSP Architects Planners & Engineers

Sit In with Tiffin is a mobile installation in Katong’s Roxy Pedestrian Mall inspired by traditional tiffin carriers. Featuring nostalgic artefacts from Roxy Square, familiar local scents, and a stand-in cinema, it evokes collective memories of Katong–Joo Chiat, activating public space through exploration, sensory engagement, storytelling, and community gathering rooted in shared
heritage.

The Jetty³ 
by Zachary Lim, Wong Zi Yi and Su Yan Ting, Singapore University of Technology and Design students, with RSP Architects Planners & Engineers

The installation conjures echoes of the old Joo Chiat Jetty where land met sea and life unfolded in familiar moments — the scent of salt, wheels on timber planks, hawkers cranking ice kachang machines. Today, it serves as a cyclist rest stop in a park paying homage to its coastal roots by framing Choa Bungalow and Parkway Parade.

Blueprint of a shophouse 
By OMG Atelier (Lee Hui Lian and Lim Pin Jie⁴), with Jerome Ng and Shivshankar Nair

This beautiful mural on 462 Joo Chiat Road reveals the intricate spatial richness of shophouse typology through technical blueprints. Showing shophouse anatomy and adaptive reuse, the vivid scenes depict layers of stories reflecting Katong-Joo Chiat's evolution from plantations to today's community life, whilst imagining future uses like vertical farming.

If surfaces speak
By Goy Architects (Goy Zhenru, below left⁵, Kathlyn Lay, Deborah Wong, below right)

Building on the spirit of the adjacent Katong Square Antique Centre and flea market, this simple bench celebrates the preservation of historic objects and spaces. The installation repurposes handmade embossed cement sand tiles from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. By spotlighting traditional craftsmanship, it invites us to value material heritage that shapes our streets and homes, preserving historical textures and patterns that might otherwise be lost to mass production.

Got an idea to enhance a public space?
If you are keen to enhance a public space in your neighbourhood or anywhere else in Singapore, consider tapping on the Lively Places Fund which co-funds public space enhancement efforts for up to S$20,000. The fund is administered by URA and the Housing & Development Board. Apply here.

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^1,2,3 These installations are designed by SUTD students collaborating with architects from SAA Architects and RSP Architects Planners & Engineers. Part of a URA-SUTD partnership led by Andrew Lee (SAA), Lee Tat Haur (Tat Architects), Associate Professor Yeo Kang Shua (SUTD), and Khoo Teik Rong (RSP), the project saw students interview local stakeholders and propose architectural interventions responding to community needs.

^4,5 Lee Hui Lian, Lim Pin Jie and Goy Zhenru are recognised in the fourth edition of URA’s ’20 Under 45’ programme in 2025. The programme was initiated in 2004 to spotlight emerging young architects in Singapore. For more information: www.go.gov.sg/20under45-fourth-edition.