The Tiong Bahru travel guide starts with a housing estate that was never meant to look historic: Singapore’s first public housing project, built in the 1930s to resemble ships, planes and trains, and still standing today as the city’s most complete Art Deco neighbourhood.
Singapore’s First Public Housing Estate
The Singapore Improvement Trust began acquiring land in Tiong Bahru in 1928 to rehouse around 2,000 squatters living in the area. All 72 acres had been converted by 1931, though a recession delayed private development for several years. In 1936, the Trust hired architect Alfred G. Church, who designed the estate’s blocks in a modified form of Streamline Moderne, a style borrowed from 1920s and 1930s industrial design. The result is buildings shaped to evoke ships, planes, automobiles and trains, with smooth curved corners, horizontal banding, nautical details and flat rooftops.
The Aeroplane Blocks and the Horseshoe Block
Blocks 81 and 82 along Tiong Poh Road are known locally as the “aeroplane blocks,” their extended horizontal wings deliberately echoing an aircraft’s silhouette. Block 78 earned the nickname “horseshoe block” for its curved shape, and it hides a piece of wartime history: an air raid shelter beneath it measuring 1,500 square metres, built to hold up to 1,600 people. Spiral staircases, green glass windows and five-foot ways, the sheltered ground-floor walkways adapted from traditional shophouses, run throughout the estate and are worth tracing on foot rather than photographing from a single spot.
Tiong Bahru Market and the Streets Around It
Tiong Bahru Market combines a wet market with a hawker centre on the upper floor, and it anchors the estate the same way it has for decades. Yong Siak Street and Eng Hoon Street, both a short walk from the market, have filled their ground-floor shophouse units with independent cafes, bakeries and small design shops over the past decade, without displacing the residential blocks above them. For a full rundown of where to eat on those two streets, see our guide to the best cafes and bakeries in Tiong Bahru.
Getting There and Practical Tips
Tiong Bahru MRT station (EW17) sits at the centre of the estate, putting the market, the aeroplane blocks and both cafe streets within a ten-minute walk of the platform. Weekday mornings are the quietest time to see the market and the Art Deco blocks without crowds, since Yong Siak Street’s cafes fill up fast on weekend afternoons. The estate is entirely residential above street level, so keep noise down when walking through the blocks themselves.
FAQ: Tiong Bahru Travel Guide
Why does Tiong Bahru look so different from the rest of Singapore?
Its blocks were purpose-built in the 1930s in a modified Streamline Moderne style, designed to resemble ships, planes and trains rather than standard housing blocks, which makes it the most complete Art Deco residential estate in the city.
Is Tiong Bahru still a residential estate, or is it mostly shops now?
It’s still genuinely residential. The famous cafes and shops occupy only the ground-floor units on Yong Siak and Eng Hoon Streets, while the upper floors across the estate remain lived-in HDB flats.
What’s the air raid shelter under Block 78?
It’s a 1,500-square-metre wartime shelter built to hold up to 1,600 people, hidden beneath the estate’s distinctive horseshoe-shaped block.
Bottom Line: Tiong Bahru Travel Guide
Tiong Bahru rewards a slow walk more than a checklist: trace the aeroplane blocks and the horseshoe block, browse the market, then work through Yong Siak and Eng Hoon Streets for coffee. The National Heritage Board’s Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail adds the detail a short visit misses, and our boutique hotels near Tiong Bahru guide covers where to stay if you want to base yourself here.
For more nearby, see our guide to Holland Village: Nightlife and International Dining.
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