Goodlife Makan Wins at ULI Pacific Awards for Excellence

Following its shortlist, DP Architects is delighted to announce its win at the prestigious Urban Land Institute (ULI) Asia Pacific Awards for Excellence 2024, for its project Goodlife Makan. One of 12 winners that was selected, the project is recognised for excellence in land use practice and the full developmental process of a project, including its positive impact on communities; which form the award’s perimeters of good urban and architecture design. The results were revealed at the 2024 ULI Asia Pacific Summit held in Roppongi, Tokyo.

The genesis of Goodlife Makan stemmed from the exploration of an alternative healthcare model and centre to address the issue of social isolation and its related mental health illness among Singapore’s elderly population. The innovative initiative by social welfare organisation, Montfort Care culminated in a refreshing take on the senior care model, where food-related programmes are leveraged to better enhance the integration of stay-at-home elderly with the community.

It also sparked a rethinking of the senior social centre typology in Singapore. Designed by DPA, Goodlife Makan is a vibrant 360 square metres active aging centre with a communal kitchen at its nucleus. Located at the void deck of a block of 3-room flats in Marine Parade, the design scheme capitalises on the spatial quality of the void deck to create an inviting, borderless setting. Full height glass doors along its peripheral blurs the threshold of the public space and the compound, providing seamless access to and views into a cheerfully coloured interior.

“The centre is designed to be open, welcoming and conducive for living gatherings,” shared Ar. Seah Chee Huang, CEO of DPA and the design lead for Goodlife Makan. “It moves away from the typically enclosed models of social centres in Singapore. This was a result of the client’s progressive approach to ageing, where they provide many integrated programmes and opportunities for multi-generational interactions to enhance the overall wellbeing of seniors with Goodlife Makan as one of them.”

Conceived for Montfort Care, a social welfare organisation that supports well-rounded aging through meaningful past times that addresses both physical and mental wellness of Singaporean seniors, this is also part of DP’s social corporate responsibility program. Cheerfully designed, Goodlife Makan makes for a vibrant and distinctive place for elderlies of different racial groups to converge and bond over the universal language of food.