Home Tour: A lawyer couple’s restored Onan Road shophouse earned a Heritage Awards mention

In the heart of Singapore's Joo Chiat Conservation Area, a meticulously restored shophouse on Onan Road stands as a testament to the harmonious blend of heritage preservation and modern living. This pre-war gem, once a dilapidated workers' dormitory, has been transformed into a stunning home that recently earned a Special Mention at the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Architectural Heritage Awards.

For married couple Chin Sing Ping and Sharon Tay, the journey to owning this Onan Road shophouse began with an unconventional wish list. "We love shophouses and didn't want to move into one that was already restored and renovated," Sharon explains. "We wanted one that was old so that we could redesign it to our preferences."

Onan Road shophouse

Their search led them to this restored shophouse, which offered the perfect canvas for their vision. Gazetted in 1993 as part of the Joo Chiat Conservation Area, the property required a delicate balance between preservation and modernization. Keith Khoo of EZRA Architects was entrusted with the task of breathing new life into the Onan Road shophouse while adhering to URA's conservation principles.

Under conservation guidelines, the shophouse facade had to be retained. The original windows were kept, and the front glass door was replaced with a wooden one, modelled after an archival photo. The entire facade was given a coat of white paint to best showcase the simple aesthetics of its original architectural features. The five-foot-way outside the restored shophouse was also kept, its original terracotta floor tiles given a thorough scrub down.

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Restored conservation shophouse

In the living room, the plaster on the existing party wall was removed to expose the original bricks, which although not uniform in size, have their own beauty.

The timber rafters on the living room ceiling were fixed up and given a fresh coat of varnish.

Meanwhile, on homeowner Sing Ping’s wishlist was a floating loft in the bedroom that the lawyer could turn into a home office. During a site recce, architect Keith discovered an empty space between the roof and the false ceiling in the bedroom. It became the perfect spot to house this loft. “A loft is the ideal spot to appreciate the high interior volume of the shophouse’s original architecture,” he says.

But building this loft wasn’t so simple. “The challenge was to design the new structure to be as inconspicuous as possible without disrupting the existing party wall,” says Keith. A pair of slim steel columns was conceived to support the lightweight timber floor loft.

A skylight in the loft makes the space brighter, while glass panels provide safety and giving the impression that it’s floating. While conservation guidelines emphasised preserving as much of the Onan Road shophouse, they allowed for the addition of an extension block at the back so that the couple could have more living space.

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Preserving old heritage

Sharon loves her new courtyard, where she can grow indoor plants, and her second favourite spot is the five-foot way outside.

In the evenings, the neighbourhood kids scoot up and down the passageway, and sometimes passerbys take a breather on a bench outside her home. “Sing Ping and I also enjoy sitting here chilling with some wine,” she says.

The success of this Onan Road shophouse restoration project demonstrates that with vision, expertise, and respect for heritage guidelines, it's possible to create a modern living space that honors the past. As Sing Ping, a passionate advocate for conservation, aptly puts it, this project beautifully showcases "how the old and the modern can come together."

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