We didn’t give @huidesigns an easy brief – a space for any time of day, where it’d be nice for a solo cuppa or glass of wine, but also fit for getting house-party-buzzy. Our references borrowed from memories of our times working in an East London wine bar, a day party in a Gowanus warehouse, and all the dreams and geographies in between.

We began with three walls (carved out of a hotel lobby, no less) – Hui’s artistic vision brought to life.

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Best Wine Bar in Singapore / Wild Card/ Wine bar Client’s Words

Hui Designs Design Approach

Having spent some time chatting and getting to know the clients, Denise Lum and Charlene Fang, these words came to mind – fun, affable, personable, off-beat and cool. Denises specialty is in coffee and Charlenes is in wine. They decided to join forces to open a venue which combines the likes of both. Recruiting Chef Amir for his amazing culinary skills completed the foundation

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Naturally I felt the space needed to exude their personalities. I knew I had to design a space that is welcoming thoughout the day and personable. An intimate space that feels like it’s their second home, a hang-out or hide-out for their friends and strangers and strangers becoming their friends. 

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As I hear them describe their memories in London where they had gone to school and worked, it jolted my own memory of visiting some of the grungier restaurants and bars with its own unique personalities I used to love in Melbourne and London.

Site constraints – Best wine bar in Singapore

The site however was quite a challenge to begin with. It is a space carved out of a corner of the Furama Riverfront Hotel Lobby, hence as mentioned above we started with only three walls. Hidden below a double volume void. We had to build our own wall around it.

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Respecting the original oval shaped void, the new wall needed to follow the curve which presented us with an odd-shaped space. The wall is intentionally designed to have half height windows, to give the venue a presence and ignite curiosity from the hotel lobby side. to capitalize on the odd shape, I created different nooks of spaces, offering eclectic options of seating. 

Facade and seating – Wine bars in Singapore 

As one enters the venue, to the left a long bench seat wraps around the inside of the facade wall provides a cozy corner seating. Meanwhile, banking the curved wall are custom-designed cantilevered counter height tables. And across from that is the bottle shop, a retail station as requested by the client. 

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At the end of the curved wall, you will find a two seater sofa. A 6-seater dining table is placed between the two existing columns. The table was a vintage coffee table modified to become a dining table. The dining chairs are a mix of pre-owned kusch+co stacking chairs and foldable chairs, purchased from http://aeaefurniture.com

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A U shaped bar/coffee counter and stainless steel-clad bulkhead hovering over it are located at the far end, and it counters the odd shape of the site and also to ground the space. It also provides a focal point as one enters the venue. The chefs kitchen is adjacent to the bar counter and there are seats at the chefs counter so that the chef can interact with the diners.

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