The new KOPItech at Funan Mall uses Lamitak laminates to bring its trendy concept to life

You can’t miss KOPItech at basement two of the new Funan Mall, with its bright eye-catching signage.

The Kopitiam food court is familiar to many Singaporeans, but how familiar are people with KOPItech? The latest Kopitiam food court at Funan Mall doesn’t just have a different name, it also breaks out of the typical Kopitiam mould with its fresh funky aesthetics and tech features.

The rejuvenated Funan Mall, branded as a creative place for work and play, has a youthful vibe with its trend forward retail concept and grungy industrial style. Its tenants have followed suit in terms of a similar visual appeal as well.

There are 14 different signage styles in the food court, one for each stall including a specially fabricated ‘food truck’. This gives KOPItech a colourful street vibe.

As such, the familiar Kopitiam has been transformed into KOPItech. This task of reimagining the food court at basement two of Funan Mall fell to designer Megan Tan of design firm Bryck Plus Mortar, under the guidance of directors Ong Yeow Chong and Henry Yong. “The keywords in the design brief from the mall management was ‘industrial’ and ‘hipster’,” reveals Megan. Taking a total of six to eight months from design concept to completion, she considers this one of her major projects.

Left: The granite-inspired Rito Marmo Flavio laminate is paired with metal roofing sheets for this stall. Right: The one features Dario Ramblas, also a stone-inspired laminate, contrasted with light timber strips.

To inject the hipster element, Megan set about creating difference in the design instead of the uniformity we associate with food courts. “The lighted signage on each of the 14 stalls, for instance, has a different font,” she explains. The stalls also feature different material treatments in front, even as they all share a common ‘industrial’ theme in the use of wire mesh or metal roofing sheets. Lamitak laminates are a core material which helped Megan achieve her design intention. For a commercial space, using natural materials such as stone and wood would have had prohibitive costs, and “laminates can create the same effect but at a lower cost,” says Megan. Laminate sheets are also more flexible, and easier to cut and maintain as well.

Not just for flat applications, laminates can be applied around columns as well, such as the walnut-look Corrado Noce Roma wood-inspired laminate seen here.

The vibrant energy of the space comes from its ‘clash’ of designs, but pulling the look together are common threads such as its predominantly ‘wood’ and ‘stone’ surfaces. For example, the design of each stall front might be unique, but they use mostly wood- and stone-inspired laminates. Wood-inspired laminates also clad all table surfaces and large structural columns to give the space a cosier feel against its industrial elements and concrete-look flooring.

Left: These round tables at KOPItech sport the Corrado Noce Roma laminate on the surface. Right: A lighter wood hue in the Legno Clear Oak laminate clads the booth seating.

On the left, inspired by Funan’s indoor cycling path on Level 1, bicycles were used as fixed supports for bar-height countertop surfaces. The rustic Corona Maple laminate on top completes the outdoorsy feel.  The Legno Clear Oak laminate was also used for another table style as seen on the right. Instead of one chair design used throughout the space, you can see chairs in different styles here.

In another departure from typical food court design, Megan also designed a landscape populated with various types of chairs and bespoke tables, even communal counters at the front with bicycles as legs! She also used different flooring underfoot to help create different seating zones.

The drink stall at KOPItech attracts customers with its cool neon signs.

As its name suggests, tech is a big part of KOPItech, in helping its stallholders go cashless and improve efficiency in customer service. Each stall has its own self-payment kiosk, and there are also common terminals which allow customers to order from any stall. An electronic signboard informs customers when their food is ready to collect.

As KOPItech scales up on the traditional food court model with their innovative approach to customer service, the design of the space also ties in holistically with the young and energetic branding of the mall, to provide a dining experience that not only feeds the body, but the visual senses too.

KOPItech is located at #B2-24, Funan Mall, 109 North Bridge Rd, Singapore 179097.

See the Lamitak laminates featured in this post at the Lamitak Studio at 114 Lavender Street, CT Hub 2 #01-61, Singapore 338729. For more information, contact the studio at 6592-5200 and studio@lamitak.com; or drop by during the opening hours below:


Monday to Thursday: 10.30am–6.30pm
Friday: 11.30am–6.30pm
Saturday: 10.30am – 4.30pm
Sunday and Public Holidays: 12.30pm – 4.30pm
Click here for directions!

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