Photography: -
Of Bricks & Bamboo
seeks to revitalise the Town Centre and renew it as a future-ready public hub for the present and the generations to come through adopting a placemaking approach that capitalises on the community’s existing assets and potential.
WHAT.
Competition Entry
WHERE.
Bukit Merah Town Centre
WHEN.
2024
Completed in mid-1986, The Bukit Merah Town Centre has served the community as a significant social space for the past 30 years. Recognising the prevalence of a more mature demographic population, a key emphasis of the proposal is to provide spaces that can be readily accessible and approachable for use of the elderly. This includes the implementation of way-finding patterns derived from the popular folktale ‘Attack of the Swordfish’ within the flooring of the urban park and visual signifiers to aid in independent wayfinding by the elderly and persons with dementia.
Therefore, a series of swimming swordfish motifs are also proposed to be laser-etched onto the steel roof shelters at the Lower Plaza. As the sun shifts across the day, shadows would cast onto the flooring adding an element of interactivity and movement to the Plaza.
The existing imposing expanse of staircase was proposed to be replaced by a stair ramp which considers accessibility and is where smaller ‘plazas’ where pop-up events such as a community market or movie nights could occur.
The design focuses on the primary use of two humble materials- brick and bamboo, referencing brickwork factories that used to exist within the Bt Merah and Alexandra area. Bamboo is then an interpretation of the banana trunks that saved the villagers from the swordfish attack as depicted in the folktale.
While the curved brick and bamboo walls weave around to enclose larger pockets of space in the lower Plaza to accommodate for larger groups, the scale reduces on the upper Plaza to accommodate for smaller pockets of children’s play areas, elderly fitness areas and group seating. To enhance visual porosity and the natural breeze, the bricks are spaced to form a porous veil.
Our proposal for the Bukit Merah Town Centre seeks to honor its historical significance while addressing the needs of residents. By integrating accessibility features, interactive design elements, and thoughtful material choices, we aim to create a vibrant, inclusive, and future-ready public hub that will continue to be a cherished space for the community.