Reclaiming Backlanes: Design Vision For Increasing Building Performance And Reprogramming Common Spaces

Design Vision for Increasing Building Performance and Reprogramming Common Spaces

Marcel Bruelisauer, Sonja Berthold

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9789814740883
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Science General
• Index: Biological Sciences

Take a shortcut! Explore the pop-up market! Breathe the fresh scents of flowers in a secret garden! What if backlanes were far from the state they are in today — lively chatter and laughter replacing the heat and noise of air-conditioning condensers and foul smells from trash bins?

Reclaiming Backlanes presents design visions for future development of shophouse neighbourhoods, reprogramming backlanes into viable and high-quality common spaces, while improving energy efficiency of shophouses by up to 50%. These visions mark the convergence of studies in energy efficiency, pedestrian movement, historic building stock analysis and urban diversity by a multidisciplinary team.

Take a shortcut! Explore the pop-up market! Breathe the fresh scents of flowers in a secret garden! What if backlanes were far from the state they are in today — lively chatter and laughter replacing the heat and noise of air-conditioning condensers and foul smells from trash bins?

Reclaiming Backlanes presents design visions for future development of shophouse neighbourhoods, reprogramming backlanes into viable and high-quality common spaces, while improving energy efficiency of shophouses by up to 50%. These visions mark the convergence of studies in energy efficiency, pedestrian movement, historic building stock analysis and urban diversity by a multidisciplinary team.

Readership: Practitioners and students of architecture, urban design, urban planning and building technology; real estate developers; government agencies; and policy makers.

BACKLANES IN SINGAPORE

Aerial View Of Boat Quay

FOCUS AREAS: HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOODS WITH UNDER-USED BACKLANES

Visited Shophouse Clusters And Their Backlanes

Shophouses are mostly low-rise houses, set in a row, with a sheltered arcade facing the main street. Their front façades shine brightly and in full colour, protected by the heritage board. Today the backlanes are generally utilised to support major economic activities on the main streets such as waste disposal and delivery.

Narrow buildings, originally two- to three-stories high, built in contiguous blocks with common party walls, shophouses remain scattered throughout Singapore today. The clusters in Boat Quay, Chinatown, Kampong Glam, and Little India are the oldest urban areas and were designated as Historic Districts in 1989, covering a wide range of architectural styles and serve several functions including commercial, community, and residential (URA 2015).

Primarily residential shophouses exist in the Blair Plain area, which were first developed as residences for the wealthy are still used as residences for individual families. These houses exhibit various architectural styles with a mix of Chinese, Malay, and European influences.

Joo Chiat and other secondary settlements, developed outside the central city district, contain a mix of elaborate Late, Art Deco, and Modern shophouse architectural styles. These areas are usually interspersed with many new and taller developments from the 1970 and 1980s.

Previously the residence of the city-state’s wealthy Peranakans in the 20th century, Emerald Hill was placed under conservation in 1985 due to its architectural hybrid style of ‘Chinese Baroque’. Currently, it is a peaceful and attractive residential area, a stone’s throw away from the shopping district of Orchard Road.

Beyond The Fronts Of Shophouses: A Focus On The Backlanes

Extensive studies have been devoted to the documentation and into the intricate façade fronts of shophouses. The strict conservation guidelines that have been set up by the Urban Redevelopment Board (URA), looks into the preservation of the front façade.

Interestingly, anecdotal evidence shows that the backlanes, despite the lack of attention, were once the safe haven for children to play, barbers to trim the most fashionable hairstyles of the era for the neighbourhood, and cobblers knocking back an odd heel into a worn-out shoe, on top of fulfilling the basic waste disposal needs for the neighbourhood. Commercial activities were carried out in the shops on the ground floor, whilst the owners of the shops would live upstairs.

Presently in commercial districts, shophouses have been mostly converted to purely hold commercial activities within the whole building. The result of such a change in the function of the shophouse is that the backlanes become reduced to purely a service lane that supports the commercial activities; one that serves the various delivery times of the restaurants and bars, where massive bins adorn the streets with overflowing amounts of waste permeating the evidence of fermentation intensified by the heat that the air-condenser units reject.

Projecting forward, the culmination of this study shall look into the means whereby the current problems that are present in the backlanes can be resolved efficiently with technology. Urban renewal of the space hopes to bring back the activities similar to the past, returning the currently under-utilized space back to the public users, imbuing life back where laughter and chatter used to be abundant, that has been replaced now with the whirl of technology.

URBAN REDEVELOPMENT OF SHOPHOUSE NEIGHBOURHOODS (SINGAPORE)

Historic districts in Singapore, the oldest urban areas around on the island were first gazetted on 7 July 1989. Here, the strictest form of conservation rules are applied. The redevelopment of these areas, ensures that whilst the conserved buildings stay in a state which is as close to possible to its glorious days of the past, are able to meet the increasing needs of the developing city. Whilst stringent rules are in place for the fronts of the shophouses, the backlanes where services and extensions are built, are sometimes only allowed when they are built up to a lower height than the existing eaves of the main roof.

Clarke Quay in the past:
Clarke Quay, situated along the Singapore River used to act as a port for bumboats bringing in traded firewood. The shophouse development was primarily catered to the selling and trading of goods with family residences on the upper levels. Due to its proximity to a river, the shophouses were densely planned to maximise the prime area.

China Square in the past:
China Square, an area flanked by Nankin and China Street had previously existed as dedicated shophouses with one way traffic flow. In the early days, the roads were often closed off at certain periods of the day and activated as a food street for a variety of vendors.

Bugis Village in the past:
Bugis Village exists along Bugis Street, previously a street night market catered to the commercial and leisurely demands of tourists. Ad-hoc roof structures, temporary stalls and the prevalence of transvestites were common and largely part of the charm that made Bugis street notoriously popular in late 20th century.

The redevelopment of these three clusters which are currently used for commercial purposes, successfully draws the crowd to stroll leisurely along the fronts of the shophouses, weaving in and out of the shops as well as restaurants. However, the backlanes have turned into mainly a service lane where air-conditioning condenser units along with all other supporting services congregate, turning into a space where people generally do not go through despite the possible shortcu...

Table of contents

• Cover page
• Copyright page
• Title page
• Preface
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Backlanes in Singapore
• 2. Backlane Infrastructure & Services
• 3. Focus Area: Boat Quay Analysis
• 4. Focus Area: Emerald Hill Analysis
• 5. Findings & Alternatives
• 6. Scenarios Boat Quay
• 7. Scenarios Emerald Hill
• 8. Conclusion & Outlook
• References
• Contributors
• Acknowledgements