Part of our Designed for Jetlagged series in our October issue, 21 Carpenter in Singapore is a masterclass in balancing heritage and modern wellness. Once a 1936 remittance house, it now stands as an award-winning boutique hotel that connects the city’s immigrant past with contemporary calm.
Once a remittance house founded in 1936, 21 Carpenter stands quietly at the edge of Clarke Quay, its heritage bones wrapped in a contemporary skin that filters light like poetry. The transformation by architecture firm WOHA is both tactile and emotional—a sensory conversation between past and present, solid and ephemeral, history and renewal.
Stepping through its doors, guests walk across Chengal timber that has weathered nearly a century of footsteps. The original wood flooring, pillars, and joists were painstakingly retained, each plank bearing the memory of those who once passed through the building’s banking halls. “This timber has aged beautifully since the 1930s, and you can feel its history underfoot,” WOHA shares. Around it, new materials meet the old—stone and glazed tiles glint softly in the bathrooms, paired with bronze accents that catch the light like echoes of time. The contrast between cool, smooth surfaces and warm metallic tones creates a balance that feels both elegant and deeply human.
Outside, the heritage structure gives way to a contemporary extension wrapped in perforated aluminium. By day, it reflects the shifting light; by night, it glows with words drawn from history. Through these perforations, poetic phrases in English and Chinese appear as shadows on curtains—lines borrowed from remittance letters once written here by immigrant workers who could not write themselves. The letters, rediscovered in the National Archives, carry phrases like “Waiting for the homebound wind,” offering a poignant reminder of the longing for home that resonates with modern travellers too. “We wove these extracts through the screens—horizontally in English, vertically in Chinese,” WOHA explains. “It creates an interplay between solid heritage textures and ephemeral contemporary surfaces that carry forward the building’s human story.”
Despite its location in one of Singapore’s most dynamic districts, 21 Carpenter feels like a refuge from the city’s pace. The architects achieved this by “floating” the new block above the original building, creating light-filled rooms and open views without overwhelming the existing structure. The result is an experience that reveals what’s old and what’s new at a glance. In the double-height lobby, you can look out to the lively street yet still sense the tranquillity of the terrace gardens above—a visual and emotional balance between urban life and retreat.
Heritage 2-Bedroom Suite
Urban Luxe Room
This equilibrium continues through the building’s “City Rooms,” planted terraces that act as urban sanctuaries, blurring the boundaries between built form and nature. “Most shophouse hotels don’t have gardens,” WOHA notes, “but the elevated rear extension made room for planted terraces. The sanctuary quality comes from this balance of retreat and engagement.” The greenery not only improves the neighbourhood’s landscape but also deepens the guest’s experience, allowing moments of pause within the city’s intensity.
Framed by lush terraces and the perforated façade above, the poolside lounge at 21 Carpenter feels suspended between city and sky.
Wellness here is woven into the architecture rather than added on. Biophilic and bio-centric strategies guide the design, from the choice of plantation species—Gambir, Nutmeg, and Pepper, crops once grown by the workers who frequented the original building—to the hybrid cooling system that balances air-conditioning with natural airflow. These decisions are practical yet deeply sensory, offering a gentler, healthier climate that mirrors the hotel’s philosophy of balance. Guests never feel the abrupt chill of modern air-conditioning, only a subtle comfort that connects them to the tropical environment outside.
Kee’s Restaurant elevates the stay with refined, soulful dining—where heritage flavours and contemporary flair come together in the hotel’s storied setting.
But perhaps what lingers most is the storytelling. Beyond the tactility of the materials or the beauty of the gardens, 21 Carpenter invites guests into a narrative that transcends architecture. It’s a building that remembers—a place that honours the hopes and poetry of those who once stood within its walls, while offering modern travellers a space to rest and reflect. As WOHA puts it, “Modern travellers can relate to this sense of longing for home. The building creates a connection between Singapore’s immigrant history and today’s global mobility.”
Bathed in natural light, the lobby of 21 Carpenter bridges old and new.
There’s a quiet power in this layering of time. You arrive from the hum of Clarke Quay, step through the narrow entrance into a light-filled lobby, perhaps linger in the bistro’s buzz before retreating to the calm of the garden terrace. In every space, the design reminds you that rest and reflection can coexist with motion. 21 Carpenter doesn’t just offer a place to stay—it tells you a story about coming home.
Experience the architecture of calm. Visit 21 Carpenter Singapore.
