Temasek Shophouse to reopen by end-2025 with retail, community and social spaces

SINGAPORE: Temasek Shophouse, a social impact hub nested among a row of historical buildings in downtown Orchard, is set to reopen by the fourth quarter of this year.

The hub, which first occupied the heritage building at 28 Orchard Road in 2019, has added three adjoining buildings to its premises, growing its space threefold to 6,400 sqm.

Restoration and expansion works for all four properties have crossed the 60 per cent mark.

Visitors can expect corporate activities, social events, exhibitions, shopping and eating at the location when it opens its doors.

The four units that form Temasek Shophouse – the original unit 28 and units 16, 22 and 38 – are all internally linked.

The hub is hoping the connection between the four buildings will encourage collaboration between partners and stakeholders.

WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE HUB

Units 22 and 28 will house more than 60 co-working spaces that include hot desks and co-working offices – triple the hub’s previous capacity.

A local cafe, Foreword Coffee, will be located in Unit 28, which will continue to host events.

The expanded space will support social entrepreneurs like Happiness Initiative with affordable workstations to connect and grow ideas.

“We don't look at issues just from an individual, organisational perspective that we are solving it all alone. We are more likely to look at issues from a very much integrated perspective,” said Happiness Initiative’s co-founder Simon Leow.

He added that the bigger space for holding and organising events makes it easier to meet other social entrepreneurs, allowing them to share and come up with unique ideas and solutions.

Alongside shared workspaces, unit 22 will also house a retail shop that has yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, unit 38 is slated to become a media studio for podcast and video recording.

Unit 16 will feature a restaurant and event spaces including an exhibition area that can host about 180 to 200 people. There, members of the public can look forward to workshops, talks, showcases, charity events and community initiatives.

“We are hoping to work with social enterprises. We're also hoping to work with the marginalised communities, such as single parents who work on home-based products,” said Temasek Shophouse’s general manager Yvonne Tay.

She added that such products could be sold in the retail part of the hub.

Outside the building, a community space that could host public concerts and other outdoor events is also being built.

“There's going to be a stepped terrace over the canal in the months to come. And we're hoping that this space can be activated for community usage,” said Ms Tay, referring to Stamford Canal, which runs behind the site.

ATTRACTING THE PUBLIC

28 Orchard Road was built in 1928 by businessmen and well-known philanthropists Mr Ee Kong Guan and Mr Chee Guan Chiang.

The historical building used to house commercial space on the ground floor and residential apartments upstairs. 

It was then used as a showroom and department store over the years before Temasek Trust incorporated it into its philanthropy ecosystem, turning the space into a social impact hub.
 
Dr Kenneth Goh, an associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship (education) at Singapore Management University, said that social entrepreneurs cannot just rely on the mission to draw visitors – they need to offer great products and experience as well.

“As you come for those reasons, and you see some of the social aspects of the business, I think that's the strongest way of supporting that message and exposing Singaporeans to that message (of philanthropy),” said Assoc Prof Goh.

Editor's note: Some of the details of the facilities planned for individual units have been removed from this article after Temasek Shophouse updated the provided information.