When one hears the term potluck, instantly an image of a long dining table filled with a spread of dishes, usually assigned and brought by the guests, comes to mind. Centred on this idea of coming together, the new collaborative space Potluck in Tebet sets a background for creatives to mingle, aimed to spark a catalyst for innovative design and ideas.
Converted out of her family home, founder Afwina Kamal saw the importance of honouring the house’s original form and repurposing it as much as they can. A gesture towards the home’s lived-in past, a visit here feels as if one’s piecing memories together, where she, her twin sister and her parents resided in the ‘70s.
Afwina has over 25 years of experience as an architect, and it shows. The former garage was refashioned into a retail space, which will soon house local chocolate brand Korte’s offline store. Meanwhile, Titik Temu Roastery’s brew bar occupies the old living room, rightfully focusing on their manual brews. Set up with a square-shaped slow bar, visitors are encouraged to linger around and watch the brewing process up close.
A room divider opens to a courtyard, where marble tables are all repurposed out of cuts from Afwina and her sister’s old bedroom floor. The terrace is shaded by hovering “hanging clouds” by Byoliving, a woven installation made of waste curtain blinds that cast gentle light streams on sunny days and warm light in the evenings. A closer look will also reveal salvaged wood and bricks from the old house reworked into tables or a roster wall.
Close to the entrance, the 50-year-old teakwood spiral staircase leads up to the mezzanine floor, where one can find one of Potluck’s five multi-purpose rooms and the brand’s offline store. The former can also be rearranged to accommodate different functions, from coworking space, meeting room, or podcast recording studio.
Here, mornings are typically slower, where neighbouring families would indulge in their slow-drip coffee before heading off to work. Come lunchtime, the hungry crowd flocks to the outdoors for Bearrito’s Quesadillas to share or one of their tacos, where bites of crispy battered chicken or marinated beef steak come wrapped in a tortilla with caramelised onions and fresh cilantro.
On the subject of collaboration, Afwina shares how “Working in architecture, you learn about teamwork early on. It’s almost like a part of my work DNA. It was an idea we carried from project to project, that you cannot do things on your own. I want Potluck to bring positive value, whatever form it may be.”
