Singapore-based Open Studio has given pickleball an unlikely however hanging residence: New Bahru Corridor. This historic area was previously a college corridor within the Sixties however has been reworked by the studio into a recent pickleball court docket that balances sport, heritage, and design.
The adaptive reuse mission varieties a part of the broader redevelopment of a breeze-block-clad former college right into a mixed-use vacation spot with retail, eating, and serviced flats. Hospitality agency The Lo & Behold Group enlisted Open Studio to reimagine the corridor not simply as a standard sports activities facility, however as a versatile pickleball venue that may additionally host dwell performances, cultural programmes, and group occasions.
Preserving Heritage Whereas Welcoming Pickleball
On the coronary heart of the intervention is restraint. Architects and Open Studio founders Lam Jun Nan and Jax Tan selected to protect the corridor’s authentic character, permitting pickleball to exist inside an area wealthy in reminiscence and materiality. Deep-stained teak wall panelling and ecru mosaic flooring—options synonymous with mid-century college halls—had been rigorously retained, repaired, and upgraded. Acoustic enhancements had been added discreetly behind current finishes to fulfill the calls for of an lively pickleball court docket with out altering its visible id.
Relatively than overwrite the previous, Open Studio launched new components that sit in deliberate distinction. Galvanised stainless-steel was used for widened doorways and customized lighting, chosen for each sturdiness and its means to climate and patina alongside the unique supplies. The result’s a court docket that feels modern but grounded, the place the rhythm of play unfolds towards surfaces formed by many years of use.
Innovation Meets Custom
Analysis into the constructing’s 1969 origins guided the restoration course of. Additions accrued over time had been eliminated, revealing the corridor’s authentic proportions and construction. Indicators of wear and tear—staple marks in timber panels and visual flooring repairs—had been deliberately left uncovered, reinforcing the concept that pickleball is solely the newest chapter within the corridor’s lengthy communal life. Timber cladding round columns was stripped again to disclose uncooked concrete, whereas clerestory home windows had been reopened to herald gentle and air.
Essentially the most vital new intervention is a waffle ceiling, designed to fulfill trendy technical and acoustic necessities whereas echoing the corridor’s modernist roots. Customized pendant lighting, composed of sq. steel varieties, supplies adaptable illumination for pickleball matches and non-sporting occasions alike.
The response has been rapid. Guests recognise the familiarity of a college corridor, but are stunned by how seamlessly it now accommodates pickleball. In New Bahru Corridor, the game good points greater than a court docket—it good points a setting the place historical past, design, and play coexist.
