Whether you're an avid supporter of local clothing and furniture brands, just starting out on your sustainability journey, or want a more intimate experience of Mercedes-Benz's growing lineup of electric cars, Green-House is once again promising to thoroughly entertain you this weekend.
Described as Singapore's "first immersive retail festival", with the goal of "[stimulating] conversations on sustainability", the event's 2024 iteration marks its third and most expansive one thus far.
Housed this time round in the old Nan Chiau High School - which you might also know as the recently reintroduced 'New Bahru' - Green-House 2024 spans a sprawling area of more than 18,000 square feet, with an even more diverse and stacked lineup of participating partners than before. The festival was held at the Castlery Flagship Store in Liat Towers last year.
Notably, alongside its core base of local brands, and returning giants such as Mercedes-Benz and Castlery, this weekend is seeing a number of large names joining the festival for the first time.
These include the likes of coffee powerhouse Nespresso - B-corp certified for its sustainable business practices; South Korean outdoor furniture maker Helinox, whose products are made to be long-lasting and versatile; and travel luggage brand Samsonite. The latter has even collaborated with local textile artist, Natalia Tan, for a tapestry installation made from the inner fabric lining extracted from "reclaimed luggages".
The key highlight of this year's programme, however, is the division of the space into three immersive concepts, also known as the Renew, Reimagine and Reconnect zones.
In the Renew zone (housed in 'The Factory'), visitors can get up close with vintage furniture and decoration pieces, as well as secondhand fashion stores. The zone also plays host to Kintsugi, recycle, repair and mending workshops.
Meanwhile, the Reimagine zone in 'The School Hall' is centred on the theme of a 'bold new world'. It thus features vendors offering innovative sustainable, food and lifestyle products, as well as wellness and mindfulness workshops. Finally, the Reconnect zone invites visitors to be at one with nature with its predominantly camping theme.
The petrolheads amongst us may want to note that this iteration of Green-House sees Mercedes-Benz returning with even more presence than last year.
One of the event's must-see installations at the event is the 'Circling Zero' exhibit in the Renew zone, jointly commissioned by Knock Knock Studio and Mercedes-Benz Singapore. Continuing the 'art-as-furniture' theme from 2023's 'Reincarnation' exhibit, 'Circling Zero' once again sees used car parts such as a catalytic converter, old car taillights, and spark plugs repurposed into feature furniture pieces.
The standout piece, arguably, is a standing floor lamp incorporating discarded brake discs.
Within the Reimagine zone, a feature wall - made with old Mercedes-Benz car parts - also adorns the front of the old school hall stage. But here, it's not just a feast for the eyes, but also a literal feast that Mercedes-Benz has whipped up too.
The Mercedes-Benz Kantine, a pop-up café in collaboration with FURA (and its Chef Christina Rasmussen), is said to explore the future of food with a three-course meal featuring local fare and a special non-alcoholic beverage pairing menu.
This isn't just your typical meal, however; all food and drinks will be served on handcrafted crockery made with upcycled bio-composite materials. With seating for the meal capped at 60 people per day, Sgcarmart understands that the capacity was reached even before the event started on Saturday.
Additionally, the Reconnect zone sees Mercedes-Benz collaborating with Helinox to create a nature-themed campground, with not just sustainable outdoor furniture but a couple of electric Mercedes-Benz SUVs (the EQE, and EQB) as the stars.
A pet photoshoot contest, running through the weekend, will even give participants the chance to win one of 25 exclusive Mercedes-Benz x Helinox camping sets.
As with before, Green-House would not be complete without presenting the special chance to get behind the wheel of Mercedes-Benz's EV range today.
A year on, however, visitors now have the chance to experience a broadened and refreshed lineup thanks to a number of new launches. The EQE SUV joined the electric family in November last year, while the facelifted EQA and seven-seater EQB SUVs landed even more recently - in April this year - packing efficiency, equipment and styling upgrades.
Mercedes-Benz’s support of Green-House 2024 follows fresh on the heels of its recently-concluded cross-island EV driving event, and comes as it continues to reinforce its green push in Singapore.
On a more global level, the luxury brand aims to go fully carbon-neutral by 2039 under its Ambition 2039 plan. It states that all vehicles produced in plants that it owns have been manufactured on a carbon-neutral basis since 2022.
If you haven’t managed to head down yet, fret not. Green-House 2024 will still be open to visitors tomorrow (14 July 2024), at New Bahru (46 and 58 Kim Yam Road), from 10:00am to 7:00pm. Admission for visitors is free, while the full participating list of merchants can be found here.
