Art Deco buildings with colonial stairways, check. Achingly chic restaurants, check. Indie boutiques, check. 

These are just some of what Singapore’s coolest districts Tiong Bahru, Bras Basah and Joo Chiat have to offer.

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TIONG BAHRU

Tiong Bahru (Malay for ‘new cemetery’) was originally a burial ground before becoming Singapore’s first public housing estate. Gentrification has turned this pre-war conservation area into one of Singapore’s coolest district. Straddling old world architecture and a thriving cafe culture, it is undoubtedly Singapore’s finest example of old-meets-new.

1. ‘AEROPLANE FLATS’

Aeroplane flats at Tiong Bahru

(Photo: 99.co)

(Photo: 99.co)

Do the curved edges and long horizontal lines of blocks 81 and 82 on Tiong Poh Road look familiar? In the name of Streamline Moderne, an international style of Art Deco architecture, they were made to resemble the lines an air plane, hence, the term Aeroplane Flats.

2. SPIRAL STAIRWAYS