There is a stainless steel pool on the rooftop of 21 Carpenter, the latest boutique hotel to sprout in Singapore in the past year. It’s a unique material, but attests to the team’s meticulous planning of the property.
“It prevents leaks,” says general manager Tarun Kalra. “You also require little concrete, so you save on material costs since you just need to put in the basin. It’s more environmentally efficient that way.” Kalra assures that the water remains cool.
Sustainability is one of the five key pillars of 21 Carpenter’s ethos.
The other four are gastronomy, service, community, and design. Four years in the making (two due to the pandemic), the hotel occupies an area that was previously home to four century-old shophouses.
WOHA Architects, which designed the space, had to reinforce the floors and supporting beams because of the added weight of fire extinguishers, lifts, and other modern creature comforts. But it retained the beautiful Shanghai plaster exterior. It was a serendipitous discovery. When workers were stripping away the white paint, they found the grey, gravelly finish once popular during the Art Deco period of the 1920s.
As a tribute to our city-state’s industrious past, the designers did not repaint over the plaster. “We want to grow the Singapore story. That’s how we are standing out from the other big hotels that have opened outposts here,” says Kalra.
There is more to the story than the plaster. In the lobby, a massive tapestry piece by renowned artist Heman Chong welcomes guests. Staff uniforms are crafted by tailors from In Personam Custom Clothiers, and Floral Kokoro handles the floral arrangements dotting the hotel. These sit in ceramic vases handmade by artist Genevieve Ang. The music wafting through the lobby and the other public spaces of 21 Carpenter is courtesy of DJ Aldrin. The hotel also collaborated with Tanglin Gin, the first distillery to be started in Singapore, to create Kee’s Gin. It’s distilled with kaffir lime leaf, young ginger, and green peppercorn. The latter is grown within the property, on 21 Carpenter’s roof garden.
The common thread tying all these names together? They’re all proudly Singaporean born and bred.
This thoughtfulness extends to the other operational aspects of the hotel. There are no plastic straws here, of course. But one aspect Kalra is proud to share is 21 Carpenter’s approach to cooling. Singapore’s humidity can bog down even the most heat-resistant person. Keeping air-conditioning switched on at full blast, however, is both financially and environmentally unsustainable.
So, the hotel uses something called hybrid cooling—a combination of the air-con kept at 26 deg C and a fan spinning at low speeds to promote airflow and keep the space cool. “The guests don’t have to hew to this, of course, but we recommend keeping the settings like that. You’ll still feel comfortable,” says Kalra.
The hotel has also installed several solar panels, but Kalra admits that the energy gained from the sun only offsets five percent of the electricity usage on one floor. Nevertheless, these thoughtful steps reflect 21 Carpenter’s approach to hospitality. It’s the little things.
Speaking about the little things, as part of the grand opening, 21 Carpenter is encouraging its guests and the public to donate to HealthServe. It’s a registered charity that aids disadvantaged migrant workers, the very people who built Singapore. You can donate here.
