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Gillman Barracks food outlets to come with EV chargers and other sustainable lifestyle features

SINGAPORE — In the next two years, motorcycle-themed restaurant Handlebar plans to install three electric chargers for motorbikes at its outlet in Gillman Barracks and a vertical herbs garden for a new farm-to-table concept.

The Gillman Barracks precinct is being revived with a heavy emphasis on environmental sustainability.

The Gillman Barracks precinct is being revived with a heavy emphasis on environmental sustainability.

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  • Five food-and-beverage (F&B) outlets have been awarded tenders to operate at art enclave Gillman Barracks, all adopting various green initiatives
  • They are Creamier, Handlebar, Hopscotch, Wheeler’s Estate and The Blackbird
  • As part of the tender awarded, the outlets will be launching various sustainable and lifestyle features
  • These include charging ports for electric motorbikes and sourcing reclaimed wood for furnishing 
  • While these features will come at a cost, the F&B outlets told TODAY they are hopeful it will draw in more crowds

SINGAPORE — In the next two years, motorcycle-themed restaurant Handlebar plans to install three electric chargers for motorbikes at its outlet in Gillman Barracks and a vertical herbs garden for a new farm-to-table concept.

Handlebar’s director Jan Pek said these new features will likely cost it at least S$80,000, but she is hopeful that these features would help current efforts to rejuvenate Gillman Barracks and attract more footfall.

“It’s another service to the future motorcycle industry because more motorcycle brands (manufacturers) are coming into Singapore, and Asia is going towards carbon neutrality,” she said.

Five successful food-and-beverage (F&B) outlets have been awarded tenders to operate at the art enclave, announced Singapore Land Authority (SLA) earlier this month.

Three of them — Creamier, Handlebar and Hopscotch — are existing tenants at Gillman Barracks, while cafe Wheeler’s Estate and live music bar The BlackBird are new.

SLA launched the tender exercises in May to rejuvenate Gillman Barracks as a “vibrant creative lifestyle enclave” with more options for all-day dining, entertainment and lifestyle activities.

One key difference about this push to energise the precinct is a strong sustainability theme. The five restaurants are required to adopt various green initiatives, in line with SLA’s plans to make Gillman Barracks an eco-friendly precinct.

However, this is not the authority’s first attempt to rejuvenate the area — the former colonial military compound was part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Identity Plan in 2002, where restaurants, cafes and arts-related activities were introduced to the site while keeping the area’s colonial charm.

In 2012, it was developed into a hub for art-related activities and businesses such as art galleries, after the Economic Strategies Committee recommended the site as one of its proposals for Singapore’s long-term economic development.

BICYCLE LANE, LIVE BAND AND OTHER FEATURES A WORTHWHILE COST FOR TENANTS

Two of the three existing F&B tenants that were awarded their tenders told TODAY they are happy to retain their premises.

Ms Pek said: “We have put in so much passion, effort and money building up this small little corner, so of course we would want to still provide our offerings to all our patrons.”

She added that she has spent at least S$1.5 million on the restaurant at Gillman Barracks since it first opened its doors in 2016 and will be paying S$2,000 more a month on rental as part of its tender proposal.

SLA evaluated the F&B operators' proposals based on the rental offered and the concepts proposed to “drive green initiatives, inject vibrancy and facility around-the-clock engagement with the wider community”. 

The quality of such concepts contributed to 60 per cent of SLA’s evaluation process.

Hopscotch, a bar that has been at Gillman Barracks since 2018, told TODAY that it will be offering more vegan and vegetarian options while also being more sustainable, which was part of its proposal to SLA.

“One example is that of our fish. We try to use barramundi (a farmed fish) instead of the other wild-caught sources of fish for our dishes,” Mr Roger Yip, a director at Hopscotch said. 

“We are currently adopting ecoSpirits (a spirit distribution technology) into our bar, which comes in reusable 4.5 litre glass containers as opposed to using 700ml bottles which are packed in cardboard and disposed of after consumption,” he added, on the changes to the way alcohol is being supplied to Hopscotch.

We are currently adopting ecoSpirits (a spirit distribution technology) into our bar, which comes in reusable 4.5 litre glass containers as opposed to using 700ml bottles which are packed in cardboard and disposed of after consumption.
Mr Roger Yip, a director at bar Hopscotch

New tenant Wheeler’s Estate also plans to theme its newest outlet as sustainable and cyclist-friendly.

“We want to work towards (being) a sustainable cafe and these efforts will include working with a salvage company to source for reclaimed woods to be built into our dining tables, flooring and roofing,” said business development manager Ong Bang Jun.

He estimated that the renovation works will cost between S$1.2 million and S$1.6 million.

Despite the cost, Mr Ong said the Gillman Barracks site had attracted his team with its potential for an “alfresco lifestyle in a natural yet fun setting”.

“We have been on the lookout for a new outlet for a period of time, and when we visited Gillman Barracks for the first time, we were attracted to its raw beauty as it’s housed in the middle of nature and filled with history,” he said.

Beyond implementing sustainable features, Wheeler’s Estate — which plans to open its newest outlet in February 2023 — will also feature a bicycle pitstop and repair station in line with its bicycle-cafe theme. 

Mr Ong said it will be launching cycling campaigns to encourage people to cycle between its three outlets, which they used to do between their two outlets in Balestier and Seletar before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Using the park connector network, it would take customers about an hour and a half to cycle past all three outlets.

SECOND ATTEMPT AT GILLMAN BARRACKS WITH FRIENDS-TURNED-BUSINESS PARTNERS

Another new entrant to the Gillman Barracks enclave will be The Blackbird, a live music bar helmed by Timbre’s chief executive officer and co-founder Danny Loong, musician Surath Godfrey, Pangdemonium Theatre Company’s chairperson Raeza Ibrahim and Kanshoku Ramen’s co-founder Brendon Leung.

The team hopes to soft launch the bar in end-March 2023.

This is not Mr Loong’s first attempt at setting up shop in the art enclave — Timbre had shut down its outlet at 9A Lock Road in 2019.

“The previous venue had some constraints such as with our live music performances where we couldn’t be too loud when outdoors,” said Mr Loong.

“But the new space is both indoors and outdoors, and we will have more flexibility to do whatever we want without affecting the environment and atmosphere… With the right partners and tenants, we are ambitious to make The Blackbird viable.”

Mr Godfrey added that their plans include recreating a similar concept to Goodbye Garden — a series of performances co-organised by Timbre Music, Timbre's musician agency, in 2021.

He added: “What we want to do with The BlackBird is similar, where there will be acts featuring different genres, regional collaboration and even comedians performing one-night comedy specials.”

This is because The Blackbird’s aim is to revitalise the live music scene, which both Mr Loong and Mr Godfrey said has been “devastated” by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Getting this tender is a positive thing as many live venues have shut down, some bands and musicians have stopped performing or retired… I believe four of us good friends will be able to contribute to the music scene and The Blackbird is a step in the right direction,” said Mr Loong.

With plans to have different genres of music, comedy night specials, farmers’ markets and more, all this will come at a cost that Mr Loong says is “substantive” but “reasonable”.

Mr Loong said the team had won the tender at S$20,000 a month.

Mr Godfrey added: “The biggest challenge is that we won't have a lot of walk-in customers at Gillman Barracks as it is a destination venue, but if we do all the things we have set out to do, we will have the footfall and create a space in line with SLA and the surrounding art galleries’ ambitions.”

One such art gallery hopeful about the new tenders is Yeo Workshop.

It founder Audrey Yeo said that the various galleries have been holding events, such as the annual Halloween weekend, regularly. But the events were not well known, and that “more F&B (outlets) would be great for (the) convenience and buzz”.

Another art gallery employee, who declined to be named, said that while more footfall might not translate to more sales immediately, she is still hopeful that the rejuvenation efforts will help give the area and businesses a needed boost. 

SLA also launched two other tenders on Tuesday (Oct 19) for "creative lifestyle uses", such as artisanal craft, fitness and wellness and co-working spaces.

The tenders will be open for eight weeks.

Related topics

Gillman Barracks F&B SLA

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