shophouses Built mostly between 1840 and 1960, shophouses are an important part of Singapore’s architectural heritage. They traditionally contained business premises on the ground floor and residences on the upper floors. The term ‘shophouse’ is a literal translation from Chinese (‘tiam chu’ in Hokkien; ‘dian wu’ in Mandarin). Shophouses have narrow frontages and 2– 3 storeys, and are built in contiguous blocks. Sir Stamford Raffles, through the Town Planning Committee of 1822, prescribed a prototype: ‘All houses constructed of brick or tile should have a uniform type of front, each having a verandah of a certain depth, open to all sides as a continuous and open passage on each side of the street.’ Hence the five- foot way.

Among the colonial architects who designed shophouses were George D. Coleman, J.T. Thomson and R.A.J. Bidwell. They were followed by local ‘shophouse architects’ such as Wee Teck Moh and Mohamad Kassim.

Shophouses can be roughly categorized into six architectural styles. Buildings in the Early Shophouse Style, are low (two storeys) and squat, with minimal ornamentation, usually of an ethnic nature. They typically feature only one (at most two) windows, on the upper floor.

The First Transitional Shophouse Style is more vertically proportioned than its predecessor, and almost without exception features two windows on the upper floor. A trademark of First Transitional shophouses is their elegant simplicity and relatively restrained ornamentation.

In contrast, the Late Shophouse Style displays the most striking, varied and eclectic ornamentation, such as decorative wall tiles; even the actual wall space is reduced by the presence of windows, pilasters and other decoration.

After the Late Style, there was a move towards simpler ornamentation and more streamlined design, that culminated in the Art Deco Style.

Bridging the Late and Art Deco styles is the Second Transitional Shophouse Style, which mixes some Late Style decorative elements, such as wall tiles, with Art Deco motifs, such as geometric designs.

The Art Deco Shophouse Style is distinguished by its streamlined motifs and seldom utilizes decorative wall tiles. Many Art Deco shophouses have date plates. Often, this style of shophouse emphasizes proportion and the composition of an entire grouping of similar buildings, with special focus on the street corners.

By the time the sixth style— the Modern Shophouse Style— emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, some of the earlier elements began to be omitted. The five- foot way and party walls remained, but modern materials such as concrete were used. Modern shophouses are more functional and austere. Their facades feature thin concrete fins that double as air vents and as simple decoration, features also of some Art Deco shophouses.

While details of shophouses may vary, key common elements include party walls, which normally project above the roof; tiled pitched roofs; five- foot way with overhanging upper floor; and timber windows. Internally, many elements of older shophouses are of timber. Air- wells opening to the sky between roof sections provide ventilation and natural light. By the beginning of the 20th century, air- wells— and back lanes for waste collection— were health and sanitary requirements.

The influence of buildings elsewhere in the region is evident. In Batavia, for instance, godowns of the Dutch East India Company had a continuous verandah, Chinese attap shophouses had air- wells, and there were fire walls protruding above the roofline of terrace houses. Conversely, Singapore shophouse architecture was brought to southern China and Bangkok by traders and King Rama V respectively.

In 1989, the Urban Redevelopment Authority initiated a programme which protects over 5,000 shophouses in Conservation Areas. Besides use as shops and residences, conserved shophouses have been put to new uses, for example as restaurants, spas, offices and hotels. Shophouses have become fashionable and, consequently, valuable real estate.

In recent decades, the term ‘HDB shophouse’ has come into use, applied to buildings constructed by the Housing & Development Board (HDB); units at ground level are used as shops, and units on upper storeys are residential. They are similar in spirit, if not strictly in form, to the traditional shophouse.

Photo credit: Timothy Auger