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After getting “scammed” by an interior designer who left his bar incomplete, Mr Roger Yip, co-founder of the Hopscotch chain of bars, swore “never again”. He vowed he would handle the bulk of renovation works himself henceforth.
His customers are unaware that the 35-year-old’s handiwork can be found in each of his four bars: at Gillman Barracks, Capitol Singapore, Gardens by the Bay and the now-closed outlet at Red Dot Museum.
With the help of his co-founders, he has DIY-ed components including building the bar counters from scratch, plumbing, electricals and design features.
Hopscotch bar at Capitol Singapore.
Mr Yip had learnt from a good friend how to do basic carpentry – and the mindset to “go and find out how to do things yourself”.
At the Capitol outlet, he raps one of the many tables with his knuckles and says: “You just buy raw wood planks for the tabletops, clad it onto the base bought from China and slap on the laminates. Very easy.”
The same goes for the bar counter. They formed the carcass out of timber planks purchased from local plywood supplier Ban Heng Long Trading before finishing with lamination.
With his co-founders and staff, Mr Yip fabricated and assembled the tables in the bar.
It all started with the Red Dot Museum branch in 2014. The four co-founders were university students in their early 20s with no money and a dream.
They went with an industrial theme for the 1,000 sq ft resto-bar – “so you could get away with mistakes”, Mr Yip says with a smile. There were measurement errors in their rookie attempt, and the final result was “good from far, far from good”. But it cost them under $20,000 to renovate the entire space, including some professional work.
The bar closed in 2017, but the industrial look with brick walls and exposed copper pipes became a signature.
The next endeavour was the outlet at Gillman Barracks, opened in 2018. Mr Yip had engaged an ID for $60,000 to $70,000. But the ID disappeared with only about 70 per cent of the job done – leaving the feature wall, signboard, ceiling fans, LED lights and plant ceiling fixtures unfinished.
This unpleasant incident lit a fire under Mr Yip to pull himself up by his bootstraps. For their next branch at Capitol, he taught himself to solder and join lights, and draw up floor plans and single-line lighting plans for the building management’s approval. These basic electrical works were then certified by a licensed electrical worker.
YouTube is your best friend, he says. “After a few times, you’ll start to know the requirements. A normal power plug that’s 13amp, what kind of wire must you use,” he says.
The team also personally laid decorative “bricks” and made a copper pipe fixture for the feature wall.
The DIY-ed exposed brick and copper pipe feature wall that has become a signature for Hopscotch’s bars.
The challenges faced were more administrative. Noisy works in Capitol had to be kept to one and a half hours a day.
Mr Yip makes it a point to involve the branch managers in all renovations. “When you build it yourself, you feel a sense of ownership.”
They spent the most on their biggest outlet, which opened in 2022 at Gardens by the Bay. Within the 3,000 sq ft space, they built the bar, a back bar and Supertree-inspired copper pipe features.
The total cost was almost $120,000 – but an ID would probably quote $350,000, he reckons. The costs are marked up substantially for commercial spaces due to the need for electrical plans, plumbing plans, floor plans and Singapore Civil Defence Force approval, he says.
Hopscotch at Gardens by the Bay, which features a Supertree-inspired copper pipe design feature Mr Yip and his team made themselves.
There are some things he will leave to the professionals, though – such as partition and structural works, and cupboard carpentry.
Mr Yip, who taught himself to mock up 3D floor plans in the process, recently helped with the interior design for two friends’ residential flats.
The accountant by training recommends opting for a balance of DIY and engaging subcontractors. “Pick your battles. The learning curve is quite steep, but the easiest thing to start with is electricals.”
Begin with something simple like adding additional power sockets – which can save you $60 to $80 a power point.
Hopscotch at Gardens by the Bay.
As for simple woodworking, one hack is to lean on laminates and fluted panels to hide mistakes and achieve a professional look.
“Time is money,” he says, especially when one’s timeline is tight. “But no regrets. Because we know the process now, people can’t ‘cut’ and ‘smoke’ us so easily.”
This article was first published in The Straits Times.