BUILDINGS & PLACES SINGAPORE BOOK OF RECORDS


Public Buildings First Government House


Sir Stamford Raffl es’ fi rst residence on Bukit Larangan (now Fort Canning Hill) was designed by George D Coleman immediately after his arrival in Singapore. Completed in 1823, it was mostly made of timber and had a 100-ft frontage and a 50-ft depth. Called the Government House it was handled over to the army for reconstruction when the Governor moved to a house near Oxley Road in 1859.


First Observatory


On 12 Sep 1840, 2LT Charles Morgan Elliot of the Madras Engineers established a ‘magnetic observatory’ of wood and granite with an attap roof at the bend of the Kallang River for the purpose of tide, rainfall and temperature reading. The observatory was later moved to Fort Fullerton at the mouth of the Singapore River.


Oldest Market


The Telok Ayer Market, built in the 1820s, is Singapore’s fi rst market building. It was later rebuilt in the distinctive octagon shape with cast iron imported from Glasgow. The second building was completed in 1894.


Oldest Colonial Building First Post Offi ce


The fi rst post offi ce was started in 1827 in a room at the front of John Argyll Maxwell’s house (now Old Parliament House). By 1843, it expanded to a small building behind the house.


First Lighthouse


Horsburgh Lighthouse is located on Pedra Branca island, 46 km east of Changi Point, at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Straits. It was built in 1851 and named after Captain James Horsburgh, a British hydrographer and navigator, who mapped many seaways around Singapore.


The Old Parliament House was once known as the Old Court House. It was originally designed as a house for John Argyll Maxwell, a merchant and one of fi rst three magistrates whom Sir Stamford Raffl es appointed. It was designed by George Coleman. As soon as it was completed in 1827, it was leased to the government by Maxwell and then used as a courthouse and government offi ces. Parlia- ment meetings were held in the building until the new Parliament House was built nearby. It is now refurbished as The Arts House.


First Court House And First Hotel


The Supreme Court was the fi rst court in Singapore, built between 1937 and 1939. It occupied the site of the former Hotel de L’Europe, the fi rst hotel in Singapore. The hotel opened in 1857 and Raffl es Hotel later became its keen rival. The site was taken over for the Supreme Court building in 1934 when the hotel closed due to bankruptcy.


First National Theatre


The fi rst National Theatre was built in 1963, as a result of an architectural competition, to commemorate Singapore’s self-government in 1959. It was then the largest theatre in Singapore, with a capacity of 3,420 seats. It was demolished in 1986.


Earliest Pier


Johnston Pier was erected in 1854 and named after one of the fi rst businessmen and a founder of the Chamber of Commerce, Alexan- der Laurie Johnston, a friend of Sir Stamford Raffl es. Shortly after the adjacent Cliff ord Pier was completed, Johnston Pier was dismantled in Jul 1933.


WORLD RECORD


Last Colonial Classical Building


In 1939, the Supreme Court was the last colo- nial classical building to be built in Singapore. Above the entrance of the building, the stately sculpture of Justice wields her scales and there is a frieze of the historic signing of the 1819 treaty between Sir Stamford Raffl es and Sultan Hussein, which established Singapore as a trading post.


Largest Pre-War Government Building


Upon its completion in 1934, the Old Hill Street Police Station designed by Dorrington Ward, was the largest pre-war government building in Singapore. It was regarded as a modern skyscraper and had electric lifts fi tted during 1933. The building has a total of 911 windows and is currently known as MICA Building.


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