Case study

Case Study: House of Tan Yeok Nee

The House of Tan Yeok Nee, on Penang Road at number 101, is a useful test of everything in this manual. It is a national monument, it has just been carefully restored, and it hosts gatherings in both a hall and open courtyards.

The building in brief

Construction ran from 1882 to 1885 for Tan Yeok Nee, a Teochew trader whose roots lay in Chaozhou, Guangdong. None of the other “Four Grand Mansions” of Singapore survives; this one does, and it is protected as a National Monument. Ownership: the Karim Family Foundation, since 2022. Restoration: from 2024, carried out by DP Architects with SUTD conservation specialist Assoc Prof Yeo Kang Shua advising. Public reopening: 1 November 2025.

The site is 26,321 sq ft and freehold. At its centre is the residence with two courtyards; offices occupy the spaces around it. The house today includes a gallery on architecture, craftsmanship and conservation, the restaurant Loca Niru, and an Artist-in-Residence, Tan Ngiap Heng, who is Tan Yeok Nee’s great-great-grandson. The Roots.gov.sg entry gives the building’s history in detail.

Spaces used for events

Three event spaces are listed. Karim Hall is the covered one: flexible in layout, fitted with built-in AV, served by a pantry and opening onto a rear courtyard reserved for it. The other two are open-air: the Rear Courtyard and the Front Courtyard. It lists wedding, company, private and social occasions as types of enquiry. We do not quote a maximum capacity; the venue’s own enquiry options range from groups under 50 to 200 and more, and any real figure depends on layout and approvals. For organisers planning an event inside the Tan Yeok Nee house, those details are the place to start.

Applying the permits section

Write the one-paragraph event description first. Because the building houses a restaurant and runs events regularly, some permissions may already be in place; ask which apply to your format instead of assuming. Anything structural, from a stage to temporary courtyard cover, should be discussed before you design around it, since a national monument leaves little room for fixings. See permits and licences.

Applying the load-in section

The published drop-off point is 103 Penang Road, next to the main address. The house sits at a busy junction at the start of Orchard Road, a short walk from Dhoby Ghaut MRT, so vehicle timing matters. Plan staggered supplier arrivals and agree the route from the kerb to the space. Karim Hall’s built-in AV can reduce how much equipment needs to come in at all — ask for its specification early and design around it. See load-in and load-out.

Applying the etiquette section

The house is a showcase of Teochew craft: carved and gilded timber, and roof ridges ornamented with cut porcelain inlay. Some of this was restored with craftsmen brought from Chaozhou because the skills are scarce in Singapore. That makes the no-touch, no-fixings and no-adhesive rules especially important. Brief guests with a line about the building’s history; people behave differently when they know they are in a monument. See heritage-care etiquette.

Applying the noise and weather section

Two of the three event spaces are courtyards, and Karim Hall opens onto its own rear courtyard. That is a gift for evening receptions and a reason to have a precise wet-weather plan. Decide early which segments would move indoors, and how. Courtyards are also where sound travels most, so agree volume limits with the venue. See noise, weather and neighbours.

Facts in this case study come from the venue’s published materials, Roots.gov.sg and The Straits Times, 30 October 2025. This manual is independent of the venue.