21 Carpenter Envisions An Artful Future While Paying Respects To Its Heritage

The boutique hotel is earning a stellar reputation for its impeccable art-filled interiors and sustainable ethos

The lobby of 21 Carpenter. Photo: Jovian Lim/Courtesy of 21 Carpenter

The past converges with the present and the future at the 48‑room 21 Carpenter, a boutique hotel sitting at the crossroad of New Bridge Road and Carpenter Street that preserves and revives the heritage of its former incarnation, Chye Hua Seng Wee Kee, a remittance house founded in 1936 by local philanthropist Lee Wee Nam and his brothers.

The hotel stands at the location of Chye Hua Seng Wee Kee, a remittance house founded in 1936. Photo: Hosanna Swee/Courtesy of 21 Carpenter

Much like its location—smack in the intersection of the Chinatown and Clarke Quay districts, with their respective old‑world charm and distinctly hipper buzz—the property, designed by Singapore‑based architectural practice Woha, blends tradition and innovation; not just with its four refurbished shophouses and a new five‑storey building with a Jenga-like façade, but also through the incorporation of both reclaimed materials and emblems from the original remittance house that tell the tales of first‑generation Singapore immigrants, and modern technology such as photovoltaic panels (which convert thermal energy into electricity).

The property was designed by Singapore‑based architectural practice Woha. Photo: Jovian Lim/Courtesy of 21 Carpenter

Playing to the hotel’s sustainability ethos, local sourcing is prioritised, from the utensils used to the bathroom accessories provided—the bespoke cups and saucer sets, for example, are by local furniture and ceramics studio Un Studio, while the toothbrush holders and custom wardrobes are by Singapore‑based upcycling and recycling facility Soda Lemon and local fashion brand In Good Company respectively.