You Are Welcome

For all its ritzy Art Deco interiors and gin bar that’s become the hangout-of-choice for the fashionable set, Parkview Square is also trying to democratise contemporary art with possibly the first free museum in a commercial building in Singapore.

- Keng Yang Shuen

For the contemporary art aficionado with a love for iconic architecture, Singapore has a new destination somewhat off the beaten track. Its location: the third floor of Parkview Square, better known to some as that “Gotham” building on North Bridge Road.

Owned by the Hong Kong-based Parkview Group, the stately building underwent a three-year makeover, relaunching earlier this year. Running it now is its sophisticated yet unassuming managing director Vicky Hwang, whose previous stints include overseeing the reconstruction of a 19th century French chateau, and leasing at the trendy mixed-use London development Battersea Power Station – both properties are owned by the Parkview Group (her family is behind the empire). And new to the rebooted Parkview Square: Atlas, a ’20s-style, gin-focused bar/restaurant that’s quickly become the place to see, be seen and Instagram at; and the private contemporary art space Parkview Museum.