A Curious Teepee (ACT) is a lifestyle store, café/bar and social space curated around the idea of living curiously and finding inspiration in the everyday.

ACT places emphasis on promoting Singapore design, as well as unique, crafted objects from around the globe; it carries over 80 brands and a broad range of products, from fashion pieces to homeware, stationery to art.

Local firm Takenouchi Webb designed the space to be conceptual, inviting and flexible. “We were required to incorporate both retail and café/ bar elements within a single space, both of which were to work separately, yet be integrated with each other,” says its director, Marc Webb.

“Early on we started to look at the range of products that would be sold in the store and how the design should complement these.”

ACT features a playful mix of display elements within a raw building shell and follows Takenouchi Webb’s signature style where polished, natural and raw materials come together with exact detailing.

Within the space, natural materials of stone, timber and brass contrast with smoky, pastel gloss elements.

The single open space is divided into two areas, retail and café. Yellow hanging troughs on the high ceiling, which contain lights and metals rods for hanging displays, run across the length of the space and unite the different zones.

Motifs inspired by teepees are integrated into the design, including a towering metal teepee at the entrance, which serves as a clothing display prop.

In this chameleon-like space, modular display units enable products to be rearranged as needed; there is also an in-store pop-up area for local entrepreneurs and designers to showcase their work.

Separated from the retail store by a display table, the café features a bar fabricated from marble and pine, as well as custom-made chairs and tables.

“The combination of a café/ bar and retail space seems quite unusual and there are not many other precedents,” says Webb.

The firm also contributes suggestions on brands to bring in and will continue its work on the space as it evolves.

Takenouchi Webb
takenouchiwebb.com

A Curious Teepee is located at Scape
acuriousteepee.com