HERITAGE, UPDATED

hainan second street

TYPOLOGY
COMMERCIAL

CLIENT
HAINAN SECOND STREET

AREA
150 SQM

SCOPE
DESIGN CONSULTANCY

The first Hainanese who arrived in Singapore in the 1880s settled in the area around Seah Street, Purvis Street, and Middle Road. The roads to this enclave were understood colloquially as “Hai Kou / Hainan First Street”(Middle Road), “Hainan Second Street” (Purvis Street) , and “Hainan Third Street” (Seah Street).

For this humble Hainan eatery we looked to hark back to its roots, by extracting elements of its heritage from the shophouses on “Hainan Second Street” (Purvis Street). Textural and function details were abstracted by clean lines and reinterpreted here to convey an authentic Hainanese experience, updated. ⁠

The shopfront is a geometric abstraction of the shophouse frontage, with arches and pilasters framing the entry.

The clean line arches are carried through into the shop, creating a sense of rhythm.

The interior is marked by its textural combination of muted pebble wash walls matched with a deep dark red MDF panelling and pattern floor tiles.

The shop's delicacies are displayed by metal signage, set in vertical text alignment, a reference to the Chinese heritage.

Deep red MDF panels reference the intricate cornices of the Purvis Street shophouse, creating an instantly contemporary backdrop to the shop.

A detail of the Hainan Second Street brand signage

Solid walnut volumes repeats the motif of arches to form a distinctive service counter

A spill out seating zone is connected visually by timber arches

As an extension of the eatery, this zone is defined by a perimeter of rhythmic arches and pillars formed by clean modern lines.

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