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SINGAPORE : Students at the former Victoria School probably never imagined that their classrooms and corridors could one day look so good it could clinch an Architectural Heritage Award (AHA).
The building along King George’s Avenue was among eight restoration projects that won recognition from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which presents annual awards for quality restoration, preservation and conservation of buildings and monuments.
The Architectural Heritage Awards which were presented on Monday evening by Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education, Ms Grace Fu, also went to the restoration project of 2 Finlayson Green in the CBD, The Knolls on Sentosa, the Bukit Timah Guild House along Cluny Road and Beulah House at Gilstead Road.
Also receiving the AHA which recognises owners, professionals and contractors who have carried out sensitive restoration works on their heritage buildings while making them usable for the present-day, were the restoration projects at 2 Peirce Road, 128D Cairnhill Road and 92–102 Joo Chiat Place.
The URA described the 1930's building that used to house Victoria School as "a rare architectural treasure among school buildings built from both the pre- and post-war periods."
As a result of the restoration undertaken by the owner People's Association and a team from Architects 61, the former school boasts a striking new five-storey addition and an "effortless elegance" surrounding the building despite its many complicated challenges, including structural defects.
At Finlayson Green, the 18-storey Art Deco office building, now owned by hospitality group Ascott, was adapted by RSP Architects Planners & Engineers into a 20-storey upscale serviced apartment block.
Once uncontested as the tallest building in Southeast Asia, the 1950s structure retains its unique and prominent exterior with the original travertine stone panel claddings painstakingly restored.
Also rescued were the antiquated window frames with brass handles which not only had to be repaired and restored, but also adapted with special glass to block out sound and heat for the apartment suites.
Another Art Deco piece, but this time a bungalow built in the late 1920s, is the two-storey Bukit Timah Guild House restored by the NUSS working with RichardHO Architects.
The home for the teaching staff of the former Raffles College, which later become the University of Singapore, was refurbished with door leaves painstakingly recreated in the pattern of the original leaves based on remnants uncovered and all original timber staircase and balustrades lovingly restored.
On Sentosa island, a cluster of 1880s buildings that once served as accomodation for British Royal Artillery officers and their families, is today accomodation for discerning travellers after the structures were revived and integrated into a modern six-star resort hotel, Capella Singapore.
The project team from DP Architects salvaged timber doors and timber-louvered windows and integrated the old with new designs to complement each other as well as the natural landscape.
A much 'newer' structure is the unique two-storey bungalow dating to the 1900s now owned by the Life Bible-Presbyterian Church.
The Edwardian Baroque style house in Gilstead Road which had been ravaged by rot, termite infestation and poor unauthorised ad-hoc alterations was restored by the APE.X Group team from top to bottom, replacing the floor tiles and even the rare and prominent turret with ornate detailing touched up by skilled artisans specially brought to Singapore.
Also believed to have been built in the 1900s by wealthy local businessman, Ong Sam Leong, is a two-storey bungalow along Peirce Road now known as India House.
The High Commission of India engaged Shing Design Atelier to restore the partly damaged house and add a new contemporary-style wing that moulded into the charm of the original bungalow.
Two sets of shophouses, one along Cairnhill and the other in Joo Chiat were also given a new lease of life as homes.
In both projects, separately managed by architects from WOHA and Ong&Ong, new living spaces were created by moving existing staircases for a modern touch to a traditional core.
A public exhibition showcasing the eight 2009 Architectural Heritage Award winners is on at The URA Centre from October 7 to November 20.
-CNA/sf
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