The People’s Association Headquarters, formerly the Victoria School compound, was teeming with over a hundred guests and award winners comprising owners, architects, engineers and contractors who were attending the 15th annual Architecture Heritage Awards (AHA). Organised by URA, the awards recognise owners, professionals and contractors who have gone the extra mile to sensitively restore their heritage buildings to their former glory for today’s use.
Guest-of-Honour for the award presentation ceremony, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education (SMS), Ms Grace Fu noted in her opening address that even as Singapore remakes ourselves to stay ahead as a global economic hub, we need to make an effort to retain our social memories. “We also need to safeguard physical manifestations of our shared past for our people and especially for our younger generation who have not lived through those years of nation building.”
Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education, Grace Fu touring the winners' exhibit at the end of the awards ceremony
2 Finlayson Green
The awards promote quality restoration of monuments and buildings with preservation and conservation status in Singapore. There are two categories of winners. Category A is awarded to National Monuments and fully conserved buildings in the Historic Districts and Good Class Bungalow Areas. Buildings fully conserved according to the restoration principles in other areas can also be considered under this category. The winners under Category A this year include the former Art-Deco Asia Insurance Building, now reinvented as Ascott Singapore Raffles Place, a 20-storey upscale serviced apartments.
One other winner is the Capella Singapore, where former military bungalows have been lovingly restored and sensitively integrated into the luxurious six-star hotel amidst the lush greenery of Sentosa. The Bukit Timah Guild House at 1F Cluny Road is another Category A winner, with the restoration team transforming the former teachers’ quarters to the classy sanctuary it is today.
A unique bungalow at 10 Gilstead Road owes its restoration and award winning status to the painstaking conservation efforts by the restoration team, who sourced for similar terrazzo tiles from Vietnam.
The Category B award is given to ”old” and “new” developments which are assessed on both the quality restoration of the “old” elements, as well as the innovation, architectural excellence and integration of the “new” elements.
George’s Avenue
The People’s Association Headquarters, formerly the Victoria School premises, is one of the rare conserved buildings with both pre and post-war buildings. This AHA winner in Category B was also the site of the AHA award ceremony.
The second Category B winner is India House at 2 Peirce Road. The official residence of the Indian High Commissioner, this formerly dilapidated Black and White bungalow was faithfully restored to its former glory.
Corporate sponsorship opportunities were earlier made available to allow the business community to contribute towards this open space. One company that came forward to show its support was iGuzzini SEA Pte Ltd, an Italian architectural lighting specialist, which sponsored the beautiful lighting fixtures in the park.
Currently a warm family home, Category B winner 128D Cairnhill Road is a spectacular two-storey transitional-style townhouse with a beautifully restored façade. Also a Category B AHA winner, 92-102 Joo Chiat Place is a row of six double-storey shophouses that have been revitalised and reinvented from back to front.
With the addition of these eight winners, a total of 92 projects have received the Awards since its launch in 1995.
Four New Conserved Areas and Buildings
URA is deeply heartened to see that members of the community are gradually taking a more active role in the conservation effort - more of them are coming forward to volunteer their buildings for conservation.
One such case has the owner of a corner shophouse along North Bridge Road at the junction of Liang Seah Street volunteering his building for conservation. Subsequently, owners of four neighbouring shophouses also agreed to conserve their buildings. Among these five buildings is a pair of corner shophouses that are mirror images of each other in their Neo-Classically influenced façades, forming a landmark gateway into Liang Seah Street.
Another building gazetted for conservation is the Church of St Bernadette. The trustees of the church have also agreed to retain their 1960s local landmark along Zion Road. Built by pioneering Singaporean architect Alfred Wong, the church is one of our remarkable Modern Tropical designs built during the post-war period.
Popular lifestyle and dining hub Rochester Park will see 30 of its pre-war bungalows and another 13 at the neighbouring Nepal Park conserved. These bungalows serve as unique historical icons that enhance the attractiveness of the area.
Last but not least, the cowshed and the farmhouse at Dairy Farm Road will also be conserved to remind us of the old 60-acre Cold Storage dairy farm set up in 1929. The cowshed, which once housed cows from Holland providing nourishing milk, is now re-used as an educational centre to teach our young about our natural heritage.