The photographs of the site of the former National Aerated Water Co. used in this post were taken during a private visit organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for invited guests and have been used with the kind permission of the site’s current owner. Do note that the site is not opened to the public.
Disused spaces bring great joy, even as in the case of the former National Aerated Water Co’s bottling plant at 3MS Serangoon Road, the paraphernalia associated its use has long been removed. There is much to learn from the spaces, especially those that were conceived with little in way of frills in an age of greater simplicity. The disused plant, fronted by an art-deco-esque tw0-strorey structure placed along a thoroughfare that would have been hard to miss, last saw use some two decades ago. Associated with the bottling of two popular soft-drink labels, Sinalco and the joy in a green bottle that was the comic strip inspired Kickapoo Joy Juice, there are many now who look back fondly at the now empty building that is one of few constants in an area that has seen much change.
The art-deco front of the former factory is a rare constant in an area that has seen much change.
The good news we heard just last week was that a portion of the former plant – its front – is being conserved. Selangor Dredging purchased the site for residential redevelopment just last year and has over the year been working with the URA on the conservation of the former plant’s most recognisable feature and its face – the art-deco main building.
The disused factory offers us a window into the past.
The factory, of a 1954 vintage, last saw operations some two decades ago. Built at a time of increasing demand for soft drinks, the home-grown company’s new plant found immediate success. The investment in the state-of-the-art factory and bottling equipment on the company’s 25th Anniversary was motivated by Sinalco’s 1952 award of exclusive bottling and distribution rights. An interesting nugget of information was shared by the URA about the rather peculiar name of the German drink was that it was derived from the words “sine alcohol” or without (in Latin) alcohol. More on the plant and the company can be found in a previous post: Losing its fizz: the third milestone without the former National Aerated Water plant.
Writings on the wall: soft drinks bottled at the plant … plus a secret formula perhaps.
The L-shaped building being conserved was where the company was run from. Offices and a mixing room were located on the upper floor and a reception, the storage area and distribution spaces on the lower level. The conserved building has several interesting features. These include a purpose designed “signage tower” on which the Sinalco logo was emblazoned, a tapering balcony at the front with a fair-faced brick parapet facing the road on which the company’s name is mounted, and a built-in sun shade projecting out from the building’s side that spirals out of a circular window (see: Conserved features of the building at “Former National Aerated Water Factory building to be gazetted for conservation” identified by URA). Parts of the building will have to be rebuilt. This includes the southeast corner, which will have to be knocked-down to permit vehicular entry to the site for construction.
A sun shade or concrete, spiraling out of a circular window.
The signage tower.
Office space on the upper floor.
Redevelopment will take place on the site just to the rear of the conserved building and this will see several structures removed, including the wide-span steel truss supported roof structure under which the main shopfloor of the plant was sited. This roof construction, topped with corrugated roofing sheets, has ample window covered openings built in to it to maxmise the entry of light and ventilation. An auxiliary building, that would have contained service spaces including toilets that can still be seen, can be found close to the rear perimeter of the site.
The shopfloor and the roof structure through which light into the factory was maximised.
The building at the rear of the site.
A look around …
A last reflection. The reception area at the southeast side of the building.
The fair-faced brick parapet.
Windows from the past into the present.
The main staircase.
The tapered front facing balcony.
The rear of the office space – which overlooked the shopfloor. Part of the roof structure can be seen.
Timber doors and matching ventilation grilles above are seen on the outward facing boundaries of the main building.
A view from the former shopfloor towards the main building. The right portion of the building was where crates of soft drinks were stored and dispatched.
The southwest side of the building.
The part of the building that will be reconstructed.
The office space on the upper floor.
The mixing room.
Joyful switches.
A view out the back of the office space towards the roof and the shopfloor below.
A close-up of the corrugated roofing sheets.
Frosted or textured glass is in evidence throughout to filter light that would otherwise have been too harsh.
Close-up of a textured glass panel.
Up on the roof.
A view over the top.
Textured glass windows.
A ventilation house?
Dead slow ahead. The part of the factory that will be demolished as seen from the driveway.
The pump at the driveway, which is visible from the outside.
Comfort facilities at the rear.
The Long and Winding Road 