Mr Alan Chan, Chairman URA

Mrs Cheong Koon Hean, CEO URA


Distinguished guests

Ladies and Gentlemen,

       It gives me great pleasure to be here today to present the URA Architectural Heritage Awards

Introduction

       Our city is going through a major transformation. The Marina Bay area is fast shaping up as an extension of our city centre. In a few short years, the construction site you see today will come alive with the completion of the Integrated Resort and new landmarks such as the double helix bridge. Our heartlands are going through a makeover too. We are opening up new business locations in the Jurong, Lakeside and Paya Lebar areas, rejuvenating older towns and opening up more nature and leisure options.

Achievements in built heritage conservation

2      However, iconic new buildings alone do not give a city its unique character. The soul of a city requires more careful nurturing.

3      The identity of a city evolves from its history, its culture, and the collective memories of its inhabitants. Conservation buildings and structures play an important part in shaping the image of Singapore. They tell the stories of our forefathers; their lifestyle, their struggles, their hopes and aspirations. These heritage buildings give our city a distinctive character and lend soul to our urban environment. By preserving the collective memories of our past, we make our physical environment more meaningful and attractive.

4      Today, our conservation programme is almost 30 years old. It has achieved a lot. More than 6,800 buildings and structures across the country have been conserved. This is a substantial number considering our limited land and relatively short history. Buildings conserved to date include pre-war colonial buildings, shop houses, historic government buildings as well as post-war modern buildings.

5      We started off with conserving Singapore's oldest urban areas - such as Boat Quay, Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India - areas that have added to the cultural diversity of our City. Next, we kept outlying districts such as Katong, Joo Chiat, Balestier and Mount Sophia. These are areas rich in local character and identity. More recently, we conserved iconic landmarks such as Old Clifford Pier, Tudor Court, Old Victoria School and St Patricks' School. For the Modern period, we saved the pre-war Tiong Bahru SIT flats, the former Asia Insurance Building, the landmark old Jurong Town Hall as well as the Clifford Pier Revolving Restaurant. All these places readily evoke strong images and memories for many of us.

6      Our conservation programme has achieved international recognition. The programme won the prestigious ULI Global Award for Excellence two years ago, for its success in striking a good balance between meeting our land use needs and keeping the original splendour of our nation's built heritage. Many from around the world including China, Hong Kong and Japan have visited us to learn about our conservation programme. Commentators in Taiwan have reported that Singapore is turning into a fun and enchanting city with some of its conservation buildings such as the St. James Power House and the National Museum jazzing up the night.

7     Conservation is now very much an integral part of our city planning. In planning for new growth areas in the draft Masterplan 2008 for instance, URA planners had actively considered old buildings worthy of conservation for legal protection. They also looked at how these buildings could be integrated with new developments and the overall vision for the area. Such efforts resulted in the conservation of important buildings such as the former Kallang Airport and Capitol Theatre.

Beyond Conserving Buildings to Conserving Structures

8      URA will continue to seek to expand the programme. In this regard, I am happy to announce that four 'Black and White' houses at Bukit Chermin will be conserved. Built in the early 1900s, these four bungalows belong to a very unique architectural phase in the history of Singapore. They were constructed by then Singapore Harbour Board for its senior staff members and reflect our roots as a maritime port. Together with the 25 pre-war colonial buildings already conserved at the Southern Ridges, these four buildings have the potential to be developed for future lifestyle uses such as hotels, culinary school, restaurants and art galleries.

9      Besides buildings, heritage structures will also be studied as part of the conservation programme going forward. What makes a place distinctive and memorable are not just the buildings. It could be an elegant tower, a historic bridge or a beautiful pavilion. There are many places and landmarks that we can identify with and feel for in Singapore - places where we spent quality time with our family and friends. A good example is the Look-out Tower at the Toa Payoh Town Park. It used to be a very popular spot for taking wedding photos and is still a landmark that many identify with Toa Payoh - one of the earliest public housing estates in Singapore.

10      I am happy to announce that the Look-out Tower at Toa Payoh Park, together with six other pavilions and towers will be kept. These include the grand Band Stand and Swan Lake gazebo at Botanic Gardens, the iconic observatory tower at Seletar Reservoir Park and the charming floating pavilion at the MacRitchie Reservoir. These structures remind us of our shared memories and enhance the identity of the places we love.

11      In addition, we will be conserving six historic bridges - the Elgin Bridge at Boat Quay, the Cavenagh Bridge just outside Fullerton Hotel, the Anderson, Ord, Read and Crawford Bridges. Most of these bridges are over a hundred years old and are engineering feats of their time. They act as important landmarks of our rivers. Elgin Bridge at Boat Quay is the first vehicular bridge to be built across the Singapore River. It was through this bridge that the North Bridge Road and South Bridge Road derived their names. Before the Cavenagh Bridge was constructed, people could only get across the river via Elgin Bridge or pay a quarter of a cent for a boat ride across the river.

12     These bridges demonstrate how beautiful infrastructure can enhance a city, and are an inspiration to us today even as we build new iconic bridges of our own, such as the Henderson Waves, and the up-coming Marina Bay Double Helix Bridge.

Celebrating seven winners for AHA

13     Conserving our built environment is not costless. For each building and structure we want to retain, we will continue to have to manage the trade-off between conserving our memories and heritage and the resultant loss in redevelopment potential. The government will therefore do its part by conserving critical buildings that are historically significant and meaningful to many Singaporeans.

14     But individuals who value these buildings from the past can also contribute significantly. This brings me to why we are here today - to celebrate seven conservation buildings that have been well restored while catering to modern needs.

15     The URA Architectural Heritage Awards seeks to promote and inspire quality restoration and innovative solutions in the use of heritage buildings. It is our way of saying thank you to owners, architects, engineers and contractors who have gone the extra mile to lovingly restore heritage buildings to their former glory and given them a new lease of life.

16     The seven winning projects today are a good mix of conservation buildings. They include a 140-year-old country house, a classic black and white bungalow, Art Deco shophouses as well as the 100-year-old seaside bungalow, where we are in today.

17     I would like to congratulate these winners today and thank them for their contribution to our national conservation effort. A total of 84 awards has been given out to outstanding restoration projects since the launch of AHA in 1995. Some of them, such as the Thiam Hock Kheng Temple, Chijmes and the old St. Andrew's School had subsequently won regional awards. I am happy to share that our 2004 winner - an early style bungalow at Mountbatten Road, has received jury commendation for innovation at the 2008 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards.

Conclusion

18     We have achieved much in our conservation programme for the last 30 years. For the years ahead, we can achieve even more, if we can foster a strong partnership between the public, people and private sectors to conserve our heritage together. Together we can make this not just a distinctive city but also a home that holds meaning for us all.

Thank you.

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