Industrial Spaces and Homes Under One Roof? JTC Explores the Idea With Architects in Toa Payoh

Workshops and design studios could one day share buildings with homes, bringing jobs closer to where people live, injecting vibrancy into industrial spaces and making better use of land.

The spaces could house small-scale assembly or prototyping activities such as 3D printing, maker spaces, design studios, dry labs, and workshops for small and medium-sized enterprises, JTC and the institute said in a statement to The Straits Times.

“By bringing different uses closer together, it could give residents more convenient access to quality jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities and spaces to pursue their hobbies and interests,” they said.

Lighter industrial activities could potentially sit alongside offices, shops, community facilities and residential units in a single development, with sufficient separation between living, working and making spaces so that homes remain conducive and attractive places to live.

JTC and the Singapore Institute of Architects said Toa Payoh was chosen because it is home to a diverse, multi-generational community of seniors, young families and working professionals. There are residential and industrial developments within the same neighbourhood, though on separate plots, and several JTC-owned industrial sites. That makes the town a realistic case study for understanding how the proposed mixed-use buildings can integrate with existing community infrastructure.

The two sites are a 2.3 hectare plot in Toa Payoh Industrial Park and a 2.4 hectare site in Lorong 3 Toa Payoh occupied by Jackson Square, a light industrial development.

Both sites are near homes and amenities. The Toa Payoh Industrial Park site is across the road from the existing Housing Board development Kim Keat Ripples and the upcoming public housing project Kim Keat Crest, with Toa Payoh Polyclinic and Toa Payoh South Community Club nearby. The Lorong 3 Toa Payoh site is next to Keng Cheng School and close to several HDB estates.

The proposed designs will be adaptable for use elsewhere in Singapore.

JTC and the institute said that for industrial-residential buildings to become a reality, urban planning regulations will likely need to be tweaked, while innovation is required in areas such as building design, logistics, ventilation, acoustics and operations.

The study has four stages. In the first, which ended in July, teams submitted their overall vision for the proposed industrial-residential development and their specific vision for each study site. Three teams have been shortlisted for the second stage, where each will produce concept designs for both sites.

Of the three teams, one comprises representatives from CPG Consultants, and another is from RSP Architects Planners and Engineers. The third team is led by Roy Pang of Architects Studio, with members from various practices.

One team will be shortlisted for each site in the final stages, either separate teams for each site or one team working on both. They will submit a schematic design and guidelines on how their design can be replicated elsewhere. The entire study is slated to end in the first half of 2027, after which JTC and the institute will review the submissions to identify viable ideas for further study. Promising concepts could then be assessed for implementation at suitable sites, although this would need to be studied with the relevant agencies to determine what is feasible and what safeguards would be required.

Urban planning experts told The Straits Times that the study presents an opportunity for Singapore to further develop as a polycentric city, one where there are multiple activity and economic hubs instead of a single central business district.

Heng Chye Kiang, deputy dean for research and innovation at the National University of Singapore’s College of Design and Engineering, said co-location can create more diverse, lively and resilient neighbourhoods. Such a model could support small businesses, start-ups, urban manufacturing, repair services and even intensive urban farming such as plant factories with artificial lighting, bringing jobs closer to home and potentially contributing to a more resilient food system.

Thomas Schroepfer, professor of architecture and sustainable design at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, identified the critical challenge as making sure industrial and residential activities can coexist. Industrial activities can generate noise, vibration, odour, emissions and delivery traffic, while residential environments require high standards of health, safety, privacy and amenity. There can also be conflicts between the operating hours of businesses and the daily rhythms of residents.

“These issues are not necessarily reasons to avoid integration, but they mean that compatibility has to be designed rather than assumed,” he noted. Selecting appropriate light industrial uses will be key, along with additional safeguards including spatial separation and buffering, acoustic treatment and management of operating hours.

Heng added that land zoning regulations in Singapore generally assign residential and industrial uses to different plots, with separate development rules, environmental requirements and tenure arrangements. Existing building, fire safety, environmental and traffic regulations may also be based on the assumption that the uses are kept separate. Integrated development would require a more flexible zoning category or a special planning framework, he said, and suggested a set of performance-based criteria governing noise, emissions, vibration, traffic and safety.

While there are overseas projects that integrate industrial and residential uses, such as NovaCity 1 in Brussels which has housing, workshops and offices in one development, Schroepfer said the JTC study stands out for its ambition to bring these ideas together at the building scale and within Singapore’s much denser urban context. “I would rather see these international examples as references rather than models to copy,” he said. “Singapore has an opportunity to develop its own typology around the particular forms of light industry that can coexist successfully with housing.”

Schroepfer said public sector leadership is important to kick-start such projects, since the model requires coordination across land use, regulation, infrastructure and multiple agencies. At the same time, architects, developers, operators and industrial users need to be closely involved because the typology has to work economically and operationally, not just conceptually. A pilot involving both sectors would let Singapore test the model and decide which elements can be replicated. Heng agreed that a public-private model may provide the best combination of experimentation, regulatory coordination, design innovation and commercial discipline.

Dalmia Adithya, co-founder of 3D printing and fabrication studio Additive Inn, which is based in Toa Payoh, said living and working in an industrial-residential complex would be very desirable. “If I live in such a space, all I have to do to go to work is just take the lift. I easily save two hours of my life per day, and I won’t be late for work or meetings,” he said.

He acknowledged the other side. His firm’s operations can generate noise and waste during processes such as painting and sanding, which could disrupt residents if the work were taking place one level above a home. “But if let’s say there is some clear buffer between the residential and commercial areas, sure, it could work,” he said.

Many of his employees are aged around 30 and do not have children. “That is exactly why I think this model is great. It gives couples more reason to consider having children at a younger age, if this kind of living arrangement is available for parents,” he said.