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Singapore Architecture: Turf City, Bukit Timah
This page documents the final days of Turf City (former Bukit Timah Turf Club) as it was in 2023, prior to the redevelopment of the site, when the remaining tenants leases expire at end 2023.The former Bukit Timah Turf Club was a horse racing facility located in the Bukit Timah area of Singapore. It was…
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Modernist Singapore Architecture: The Arcadia
The Arcadia is a modernist condominium development, nestled within the lush surrounds of Arcadia Road, Bukit Timah, Singapore. The development consists of three pyramidal towers each lined with planter boxes that embody the concept of garden living, and is described as a “hanging gardens” The development was designed by Wimberly, Whisenand, Allison, Tong & Goo…
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Lost Singapore Architecture: Landmark Tower
Landmark Tower, is a condominium completed in 1985 by one of Singapore’s pioneer architects, Timothy Seow. It’s striking slender concrete structure stood out as a lone tower, situated at the base of Pearl’s Hill City Park, adjacent to the busy CTE/Chin Swee thoroughfare. Standing 112m and 37 floors above its surroundings, Landmark Tower had unblocked…
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Modernist Singapore Architecture: People’s Park Complex
Looming above the low rise shophouses of Singapore’s Chinatown stands the mighty modernist slab block of People’s Park Tower, an unmissable icon of Singapore’s early post independence architectural design. Completed in 1973, People’s Park Complex was the first the first large scale mixed use development of its kind in Southeast Asia, and a trend setting…
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Modernist Singapore Architecture: Shaw Tower
Shaw Tower is a 35 storey office and commercial development located on Beach Road, Singapore and was completed in 1975. Its striking brutalist grid like facade, consisting of unpainted pre-cast concrete marks it out, surrounded by modern towers of steel & glass such as South Beach and Duo. The site of the tower was developed…
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Modernist Singapore Architecture: Textile Centre
Singapore Textile Centre is a mixed use development located on Jalan Sultan Road, towering above the adjacent low-rise Kampong Glam heritage area. A 7 floor podium block contains a mixture of shops and offices, topped by 24 floor residential tower. Whilst its exterior may not be very exciting, the interior corridors of the residential tower…
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Modernist Singapore Architecture: Katong Shopping Centre
Katong Shopping Centre was Singapore’s first fully air conditioned retail mall when it opened to the public in 1973. Built in a modernist style, it’s cast concrete portholes and corrugated texture share great similarities with other buildings of the era, such as Golden Mile Complex. With an exterior that was originally raw concrete, it was…
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Modernist Singapore Architecture: Golden Mile Complex
Golden Mile Complex is a modernist / brutalist style mixed use development, near Nicoll Highway, Singapore. Built in 1973, the building was a visionary mixed use development for its time, housing offices, shopping, entertainment services in its lower level podium and sea facing apartments on its upper stepped terrace structure. Golden Mile Complex is…
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Lost Singapore Architecture: Pearl Bank Apartments
Constructed in 1976, the Pearl Bank Apartment complex was a pioneering residential development in Singapore, that was when built the tallest residential structure in Singapore. Designed by Tan Cheng Siong of Archurban Architects & Planners, Pearl Bank served as a precedent for high density dwelling, and paved the way for subsequent high-density urban development in…
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Abandoned Singapore: Old Changi Hospital
Old Changi Hospital, located on the North East tip of Singapore was constructed by British forces in the 1930s as part of the RAF Changi military base. It remained in use as a hospital, under many different names and managements, until it was vacated in 1997 when operations shifted to Changi General Hospital at Simei.…
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Abandoned Singapore: Kallang Airport
Kallang Airport, was Singapore’s first purpose-built civil airport and operated between 1937-1955. As of documentation and writing [2019] the airport lies empty, having been vacant since 2009, when the People’s Association (PA) shifted their offices from the site. The site has been gazetted for consevation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and awaits redevelopment in…
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Abandoned Singapore: Faber Fire Command Fortress Plotting Room
Beneath the well known Peak of Mount Faber, Singapore lies a relatively unknown subterranean complex: Faber Fire Command Fortress Plotting Room, which was built in 1936. The Fortress Plotting Room was where information about naval targets was received from Fortress Observation Posts, plotted and the required information extracted and then acted on. There were two…
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Abandoned Singapore: Mediacorp Caldecott Broadcast Centre
Nestled among the quiet residential streets of Caldecott Hill lie the remains of Singapore’s Mediacorp Caldecott Broadcast Centre. From radio to TV, the broadcast station played a pivotal role in the development of Singapore’s media scene. Radio-Television Singapore, the precursor to today’s Mediacorp, opened its new Television Studio Centre in 1966, which at the time…
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Lorong Buangkok – The Last Kampong in Singapore
Kampong Lorong Buangkok is a village located in Hougang, Eastern Singapore. Built in 1956, it is the last surviving kampong (village) located in mainland Singapore in the 21st century. A wide canal ran alongside the kampong, which links to Sungei Punggol that drains into the eastern Straits of Johor.
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Abandoned Singapore: Pasir Panjang Power Station
Pasir Panjang Power Station was Singapore’s second power station, following on from the nearby St James Power Station. It officially opened on 3 July 1953 and was finally decommissioned in 1997 with the expansion of newer facilities at Pulau Seraya, Senoko and Tuas. The striking red brick facade, punctuated by white framed round and square…
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Singapore Archifest 2017: Envisioning Undergrounds
The Singapore Archifest is an annual public festival organized by the Singapore Institute of Architects to celebrate architecture the built environment. As part of their 11th edition and under the overall theme ‘Building Agency’ I was invited to host and exhibition of my work and discourse at the Zarch Collaboratives gallery space. Under the title ‘Envisioning Undergrounds’…
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Abandoned Singapore: Fort Serapong
Buried among the overgrown jungle at the North-Eastern edge of Sentosa island lies Fort Serapong, a sprawling abandoned military complex complete with tunnels, bunkers, and other subterranean spaces. Built between the 1870s and 1890s, Fort Serapong, together with Fort Siloso, Fort Connaught and the Imbiah Battery, formed an integrated part of the British’s southern coastal defence at Pulau…
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Abandoned Singapore: Jurong Railway Line
Many people have explored the Singapore’s ‘Green corridor’ however few have ventured slightly further West to follow the route of the Jurong Railway line. The now defunct line was a freight route which used to connect the coastal warehouses at the Jurong Industrial Estate back to the mainline at Bukit Timah along a 9 mile…
