Pearl's Hill Terrace Tour: Indie arts enclave to be closed in 2025

Pearl's Hill can't seem to catch a break. From the demolition of Pearl Bank Apartments in 2020, to the eviction of local artists from their enclave in 195 Pearl's Hill Terrace, and now the former school and former Restricted Passport Centre, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is certainly gearing up for some big changes in the neighbourhood.

Upon hearing the news, I skittered over to Outram to visit these places before they get demolished for good, starting with the arts enclave in 195 Pearl's Hill Terrace.

195 Pearl's Hill Terrace Tour

Located near People's Park Complex, I made my way to 195 Pearl's Hill Terrace on a blazing Friday afternoon. A steep set of stone steps led up to the street, culminating in an unassuming entrance behind a narrow street.

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The area was desolate, expectedly so for a random weekday afternoon. Venturing further into the building, pops of colour on the bleak white walls caught my eye.

Upon inspection, I realised that the advert was genuinely painted onto the wall - not posters or pre-printed stickers, but precise brushstrokes spanning the whole stretch of the wall.

Even the directory was painted onto the wall, in a manner that could only be achieve through meticulous precision. Each line was impossible straight, and the text was so perfect it looked like a type-writer font.

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Directory of Pearl's Hill Terrace level 1

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Advertising for a French class in Pearl's Hill Terrace

I hadn't seen a hand-painted ad before, much less one directly and permanently etched onto a wall. It gave off a personal touch and to me, showcased their devotion, almost as if they were eager to crawl out of the painting to teach me French themselves.

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Pearl's Hill Terrace Street Art

Wandering just a bit further, I stepped into the open space in the middle of the terrace, bathed in natural light, and saw a vivid, entrancing mural sprawling across the side of the walls, bringing life to the aging colonial architecture.

195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace Food

There were three eateries on the first floor, providing a varied selection of meals.

paaru.sg

From the outside, paaru.sg looks like any other Japanese restaurant, but a quick Google search of the menu reveals that it’s more like a cafe, with Japanese inspired dishes. It operates as both a cafe and a restaurant, with the restaurant only on a reservation basis.

According to their website, they serve lunch every Tuesday from 12 to 3pm, dinners on every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6pm to 10pm. The café is currently paused until further notice.

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Kult Yard

While this bar wasn’t open when I visited, there have been quite a number of stellar reviews. The alfresco dining area was well maintained and surrounded by colour, and I can imagine the inviting ambiance when coupled with dim, evening lighting and a lively crowd. 

Lavi Taco

If you’re looking for a bite with your cocktail from Kult Yard, you can drop by Lavi Taco right next to it. Selling contemporary Mexican food, Lavi Taco is a chain restaurant also found in Maxwell and Resorts World Sentosa.

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Pearl's Hill Terrace Shops

Surrounding the open courtyard in Level 1 is a corridor lined with small shops and art studios. Each unit offers a unique product or activity, from pottery classes to handmade jewelry, and the decor of every outlet evokes a sense of calm and invitation. Neutral tones and personalised fonts showcases each patron’s eye for design and individuality, making each boutique a unique addition to the tapestry of the enclave. 

Below are just a few stores that caught my eye, and in between these business include music schools and the odd legal firm.

Clink Clank Clunk

Clink Clank Clunk is a jewellery studio specializing in custom, bridal and si dian jin (a Chinese wedding jewellery) handcrafted jewellery.

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ARTFOLD

An art therapy workshop, ARTFOLD provides a safe space for children to engage, explore and expand through creative invitations with the arts.

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Sally’s Room

Sally's Room is a space for like minded creative souls to connect and encounter each other through the creating process of candle making.

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The Potter’s Guilt

The Potters' Guilt is a collective group of practising artists who work in the realm of three dimensional art and enjoy sharing the satisfaction of creating something handmade.

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The Art Nooq

The Art Nooq offers a unique and intimate experience of art jamming - away from the hustle and bustle.

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Pearl's Hill Terrace Closing Date

March 2025 Lease Ends

It's saddening to think that this community of artists and small local businesses located in Pearl's Hill Terrace will be forced to relocate within the next year. Not only is it difficult to find such an authentic and intertwined cluster of creative talents, the building itself is a piece of colonial history that will be lost when demolished.

Initially, 195 Pearl's Hill Terrace was the former police Upper Barracks established in 1934. It was disbanded after WW2 in 1945, and was used to hold various government agencies and ministries before becoming an art enclave in 2007.

Since 2007, Master tenant Jerry Tan, 63, has leased the building from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), giving his sub-tenants – 95 per cent of which he says are start-ups – the space to experiment, fail and grow.

Tenants such as The Potter's Guilt are worried and already looking relocate, but other tenants remain hopeful.

Pearl's Hill Terrace Tenants Hopeful

In an interview with The Straits Times, Mr Raymond Luo, 36, creative director of Clink Clank Clunk, said, “More than just a space, the community and the culture is what makes this place completely different from everywhere else in Singapore and very rare in the rest of the world as well. It makes it even more important for the community to band together here and fight for a chance.”

Master tenant Jerry Tan, 63, also expressed optimism about the discussions and cited examples of community work his sub-tenants are involved in, including beach cleaning and art therapy sessions for children with special needs.

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Former Pearl's Hill School

195 Pearl's Hill Terrace isn't the only building set to be demolished for redevelopment purposes. Other buildings around the area have been revealed to meet the same fate, to build 6,000 new homes within the next decade.

Former Pearl's Hill School

Address: 175A Chin Swee Road

Formerly known as the Singapore Chinese Branch School, Pearl's Hill Primary School was one of the first Government Schools set up by the colonial government in 1881 at Cross Street. It served as a feeder school for Raffles Institution, moving from Cross Street to Pearl's Hill Road in 1914. The school shifted again to Chin Swee Road in 1971, and closed for good in 2001.

Hotel Re! Closing

The original building of Pearl's Hill School at Pearl Hill's Road was repurposed to house Hotel Re! in 1971 after the school moved.

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Pearl's Hill City Park

Address: Chin Swee Road &, Pearl's Hill Rd, 169879

I trekked through Pearl's Hill City Park from 195 Pearl's Hill Terrace to get to the hotel, which sat slightly up the hill, accessible by a small entrance along Central Expressway. Initially, it seemed surprising that the tall, singular building used to be a school. The immediate surrounding area was a barren carpark, which was encircled by a thick foliage of trees of the park.

Soon after I entered the hotel and began snapping pictures, I was soon stopped and instructed by security to delete them all. When asked about plans to demolish the building, he said he has heard no such news from his employers.

Hotel Re! Pearl's Hill

Address: 175A Chin Swee Rd, Singapore 169879

I also pointed out how empty the hotel and its immediate vicinity appeared from the outside, and in response, he explained that Hotel Re! receives mostly holiday package patrons, as part of a tour group, and they were busy sightseeing when I visited around mid noon.

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Former Restricted Passport Centre

Address: 240 Outram Road

What is a restricted passport? First introduced in 1967, it was a special passport to ease the travelling process between Singapore and West Malaysia. The SRP was eventually made invalid on 1 June 1999 when the number of commuters dwindled over the years.

The centre was barren too, and completely fenced off. It took up a relatively small plot of land - I walked the circumference easily trying to find a way in - and is located next to a grassy lawn on a hill. A church sat uphill of the Restricted Passport Centre, with people coming and going during the time I was there.

The building itself has a few interesting features, such as designs along some walls to give a different texture.

Surrounded by verdant greenery on the back of the building, and the bustling street and heavy traffic in front, I can see why this is a prime area for housing, with its connectivity and proximity to nature.

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Pearl Bank Apartments

These buildings aren't the first iconic landmarks to be demolished in Pearl's Hill for 'progress'. Pearl Bank Apartments, a spearhead in Singaporean architecture and high-rise housing, was demolished in March, 2020, after living 44 years upon its completion in 1976.

It had many novel architectural features still rarely built today, from its split-level apartments to its horseshoe shape design. The site is now used by One Pearl Bank, a condominium designed after the original building with similar curved architecture.

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