MKPL's Siew Man Kok: The man behind the Bidadari Estate master plan

Siew: I chose to study architecture because it was the only course at NUS that has a drawing and design element in it

MKPL Architects may be located within a non-descript office building on Cecil Street, but the 50-strong firm is the master plan architect for two historic sites: Bidadari Estate, one of Singapore’s oldest cemeteries that will be transformed into a vibrant, green public housing estate; and two sections of the Rail Corridor, the land that used to be owned by Malayan Railways and where the train tracks ran.

For his firm’s contribution to Singapore’s urban landscape, Siew Man Kok, chairman and co-founder of MKPL, was named Designer of the Year at the prestigious President’s Design Award in December 2015.

MKPL and its partner, Toronto-based planning and urban design firm Urban Strategies, won the bid for the Bidadari Estate master plan in 2012. Their concept for the 93ha HDB estate was introduced in September 2014. Designed as “a community in a garden”, the estate has six distinctive neighbourhoods that will be integrated with parks and communal spaces to create a tranquil urban oasis.

Bidadari Estate has six distinctive neighbourhoods that will be integrated with parks
and communal spaces to create a tranquil urban oasis

Source: MPKL

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When completed, it will be the first public housing estate in Singapore that allows people to live within a park. The neighbourhoods will incorporate features such as multi-level green decks with roof gardens above multi-storey car parks and selected residential blocks, courtyards in between residential blocks as well as elevated walkways to enhance connectivity from one end of the project to another.

Plans include transforming the undulating greenery of the former Bidadari cemetery into a regional park with a man-made lake as the centrepiece. It is named Alkaff Lake after one of the vanished landmarks, Alkaff Lake Gardens, which used to be located there. It was one of the legacies of the illustrious Alkaff family from Saudi Arabia, who were merchants and landowners, and made a major contribution to the Singapore economy. Long before the site opened as a cemetery in 1908, it was the home of one of the wives of the Sultan of Johor, says Siew. A memorial garden with headstones of prominent individuals from the past will be incorporated into the park to relate the history of the place.

Bidadari Estate will also be well connected by public transport, with a bus interchange linked to the Woodleigh MRT station, as well as amenities such as a new-age hawker centre, eateries and shops.

When passengers emerge from the MRT station, they will arrive at the former arrival and departure
platforms of the old railway station

Source: MPKL

In December 2015, MKPL was chosen by URA to design two portions of the 24km-long Rail Corridor. One involves the concept for part of the corridor to be transformed into a green belt and integrated with a new affordable housing estate in Choa Chu Kang. The other is the proposed adaptive reuse of the former Malayan Railways station at Tanjong Pagar. Part of the concept includes a public park in front of the former railway station. The other is to integrate a new entrance with the upcoming Cantonment MRT station on the Circle Line.

The concept of Rail Corridor includes a public park in front of the former Malayan Railways station at
Tanjong Pagar

Source: MPKL

Siew was adamant about restoring and repurposing the train station as an access point into the MRT station. Where the former railway tracks used to be, will now be the entrance and exit into the MRT station underground. When passengers emerge from the MRT station, they will arrive at the former arrival and departure platforms of the old railway station. “This simple change allows people to utilise the old platform to board a train. This time, it is the MRT and not the old railway train,” he says. “It will be the first MRT station in Singapore where you enter via an old train platform. It’s also a good reminder of how far Singapore has come.”

The 54-year-old Siew is a true blue Singaporean. He graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1989 with a degree in architecture. He flirted with the idea of becoming a pilot once because of the glamour associated with it. However, his true love was to be an artist. “I chose to study architecture because it was the only course at NUS that has a drawing and design element in it,” he says. “My parents told me not to be an artist because they thought I would end up being a street artist and poor.”

After graduation, he joined boutique firm Andrew Tan Architects. After six years with the firm, Siew and his colleague, Cheng Pai Ling, decided to set up their own architectural practice in 1995. The duo called their firm MKPL, using the initials of their names — Man Kok and Pai Ling.

MKPL’s first project was to design a double-storey Good Class Bungalow at Bishopsgate. For the first six months after they started MKPL, Cheng continued to work at Andrew Tan Architects. “We were relying on her salary to keep our business going,” recalls Siew. “We could not risk both our jobs, especially in the first few months, when we hadn’t secured any contracts.”

After 21 years, MKPL now has 50 staff, of whom 40 are architects. Besides the office in Singapore, the firm has a second office in the Philippines with 10 staff. The team in the Philippines focuses solely on the production of drawings for all their projects.

While Siew and his team enjoy designing master plans for projects such as Bidadari Estate and the Rail Corridor, they also design master plans for residential projects — from private houses to condominiums. “I wish that developers in Singapore will look at the design and concept and not just the price when asking architects to design their projects,” he says. “That will really elevate the Singapore architectural scene.”

This article appeared in the The Edge Property pullout of Issue 738 (July 25, 2016) of The Edge Singapore.

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