Walk through certain HDB estates, and you might spot a pineapple near a lift lobby, oversized block numbers, or an ang ku kueh mural at the void deck.
But these details have a practical purpose. Across parts of Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Marine Parade, and Queenstown, colours and familiar pictures give residents living with dementia extra clues to recognise their surroundings. That everyday walk to the coffeeshop, or back home, gets a few more landmarks along the way.
Contents
- Yishun’s red, green & blue zones help residents find their bearings
- Ang Mo Kio’s nostalgic murals double as familiar landmarks
- Marine Terrace has Peranakan slippers & tingkat murals
- Stirling View residents helped design 10 wayfinding murals
- Clear landmarks need the right spot, not just a bright wall
- New BTO projects have dementia-friendly wayfinding guidelines too
- Colour-coded HDB blocks make familiar routes easier to recognise
Yishun’s red, green & blue zones help residents find their bearings
Image credit: IMMORTAL
Yishun was Singapore’s first estate to incorporate dementia-friendly design. An initiative across 21 HDB blocks in Chong Pang and Khatib Central introduced visual cues to make the neighbourhood easier to navigate.
Blocks were grouped into red, green, and blue zones, with pineapple, tropical fish, and rubber tree icons chosen for their links to the area’s history. These pictures appear in common areas such as lift lobbies and stairwells, giving residents another detail to recognise beyond a block number.
The signage extends beyond the blocks themselves, covering supermarkets, coffee shops, and Khatib MRT Station too. Getting home matters, but so does getting to the market and back.
Image credit: IMMORTAL
If you’ve ever checked several pillars before finding a block number, you’ll know how similar neighbouring void decks can look. In Nee Soon, large numbers sit against solid backgrounds on sides facing pedestrian routes, making them easier to spot on foot. Not to mention the large identifying icons painted on the side of the blocks.
Maps and clearer signs also guide residents towards everyday amenities. Like lift access in older HDB blocks, these details can make a difference to how residents get around their estate.
Ang Mo Kio’s nostalgic murals double as familiar landmarks
Image credit: Dementia Singapore
Over in Kebun Baru, Ang Mo Kio, the landmarks take a more nostalgic, snack-related form. By April 2021, 10 blocks along Ang Mo Kio Avenues 3 and 4 had received a total of 37 murals through the wayfinding project.
The murals pictured nostalgic local symbols like ang ku kueh, kopitiam cups, and satay sticks. Each symbol is placed at points where residents would need to choose a direction or check that they are on the right route.
Colour alone isn’t the answer, though. A fully painted pillar can feel overwhelming. What matters more is familiarity, placement, and how a resident actually responds to a design.
Marine Terrace has Peranakan slippers & tingkat murals
Image credit: Marine Parade Town Council
Head east and you’ll find another take on the idea at Blocks 51–55 Marine Terrace. Here, Peranakan-inspired murals bring familiar household objects to the walls, including slippers and tingkat containers.
The theme wasn’t chosen at random. During the design process, seniors at Goodlife! Marine Parade recognised the Peranakan items more readily than other proposed icons.
Image credit: Marine Parade Town Council
Marine Parade was declared a dementia-friendly neighbourhood in September 2023. Community partners and volunteers worked on the murals alongside CHIJ Katong Convent students and Tao Nan School teachers.
Look at the slipper mural, and you’ll see the number 53 beside it. Residents have both an object and a number to refer to when recognising the block, rather than a wall of decoration with no obvious connection to their address.
Stirling View residents helped design 10 wayfinding murals
Image credit: HDB
Queenstown has its own example at Stirling View, where a resident-led project created 10 wayfinding murals and a feature wall. A group of 52 older participants helped shape the designs around memories of the past, with AIC and Dementia Singapore consulted on their use for navigation.
More than 110 residents took part in the painting. On 16th April 2023, a neighbourhood carnival introduced the completed project through dementia-awareness talks and a photo hunt, giving residents a reason to get acquainted with the new landmarks.
In HDB’s Queenstown photo montage, everyday objects appear beside block numbers: a cup and saucer, pinwheels, and colourful food illustrations. The motifs offer something more distinctive to look for when the buildings around you share a similar layout.
Clear landmarks need the right spot, not just a bright wall
Image credit: @natmuseum_sg via Instagram
AIC’s guidance for mural projects recommends involving people living with dementia and caregivers in the planning, then conducting walkabouts to choose suitable walls. That gives the team a chance to see the routes residents use before picking up a paintbrush.
The guidance favours simple, recognisable pictures, with neighbourhood heritage and familiar food among the suggested themes. Complicated artwork can make it harder to focus on finding the way.
Elsewhere, Toa Payoh East has blue sunflower and red palm tree markers alongside block numbers. Yio Chu Kang has introduced yellow circular markers pointing towards destinations such as the market, with utensil symbols identifying food amenities.
The designs give residents different ways to recognise a place, but there’s human support in the mix too. Designated Dementia Go-To Points have trained staff who can help someone who is lost and contact their next of kin.
New BTO projects have dementia-friendly wayfinding guidelines too
Image credit: IMMORTAL
These ideas are also informing the design of new housing. According to HDB, all BTO projects launched in October 2023 or later come under its Dementia-Friendly Wayfinding Design Guide.
The guide includes giving individual blocks their own colours and motifs, together with a straightforward looped route through the precinct. This brings navigation into the planning of the estate, alongside the later addition of signs or murals.
For existing estates, HDB launched a separate Senior-Friendly Wayfinding Design Guide in September 2024. It covers features such as larger lettering, strong colour contrast, clear icons, and signs placed consistently at eye level.
That doesn’t mean every BTO launched since October 2023 is finished, or that every older block has been repainted. It means there’s now guidance for applying these ideas more widely, while individual estates will still look different.
Colour-coded HDB blocks make familiar routes easier to recognise
Home isn’t just the flat behind our front door. The route to the market, the lift lobby, and the coffeeshop downstairs are part of that familiarity too.
The next time you pass a pineapple sign, a kueh mural, or a pair of painted Peranakan slippers, take a closer look at where it’s placed. For a neighbour living with dementia, that small detail could be a useful clue on the walk home.
Read other related articles:
Why some older HDB blocks don’t have lift access to every floor
Quirky resale HDB features you might spot in older flats
The story behind Singapore’s postal codes
Cover image adapted from: IMMORTAL, Dementia Singapore
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