Musings of a Citi Sketcha

Sunday, 20 November 2011

The Golden Mile Complex

The Golden Mile Complex is a commercial and residential development, providing offices, shopping, entertainment services and apartment living within its podium and stepped terrace structure. It houses 411 shops, 226 offices and 68 residential units.^[2] The building was designed by Gan Eng Oon, William Lim and Tay Kheng Soon of the Singapore architect firm Design Partnership, now known as DP Architects.

Sited on 1.3 hectares and built to a height of 89 metres (292 feet),^[5] the Golden Mile Complex is an exemplary type of "megastructure" described by architectural historian, Reyner Banham. It is one of the few that have been actually realised in the world. Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Fumihiko Maki had called the Golden Mile Complex a "collective form". It successfully propagates high-density usage and diversity under a broad range of ideas advanced by the Japanese Metabolist Movement of the 1960s. The complex was designed as a "vertical city", which stands in contrast to homogenised cities where functional zoning restrains all signs of the latter's vitality.

Conceived as a prototype for a lively environment, the design of the Golden Mile Complex was intended to catalyse urban development along Beach Road by employing an extruded section that would stretch along the East Coast facing the sea. In terms of public transport and accessibility, the building is serviced from the rear on Beach Road, instead of its frontage with Nicoll Highway, with a continuous pedestrian spine linking all buildings in the Golden Mile of Beach Road. The design was influenced by the linear city concepts of Le Corbusier and Arturo Soria y Mata.^[6]

The stepped profile of the Golden Mile Complex offers the occupants of the apartments on the upper floors a panoramic view of the sea and sky. All the apartments have balconies, and two-storey maisonette penthouses crown off the building. The narrowness of this sloping slab form enhances natural ventilation and shades a lofty communal concourse above the podium along Beach Road. The stepped design also reduces the impact of noise from the road traffic. The Golden Mile Complex preceded by several years avant-garde stepped-section buildings which were built in the United Kingdom and Europe.^[6]

The lower floors contain offices and a retail mall, located within staggered atria to allow natural light into the heart of the building.

The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes

The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes was constructed in 1888. This is the first Tamil Catholic church in Singapore. Its design is modelled after the original church at Lourdes, France.
Many architectural historians attribute this building to Swan & Maclaren, but it was more probably designed by a priest–architect, such as Father Nain, as many other Catholic buildings in Singapore were at the time. It could not have been executed by Swan & Maclaren, to whom it is often attributed, as the partnership was not formed until 1893, at which time the building was completed. More than likely the plans were submitted by A.W. Lermit of Swan & Lermit.

Today, the Church is used, up to a point, for the purpose for which it was built, i.e. as a worshipping place for Tamil Catholics. However, over the last decade, and in the interests of a multi-racial nation, it has welcomed Catholics of all races. Masses are held in English, Tamil and Singhalese.

The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes was gazetted as a national monument on 14 January 2005.

Saturday, 19 November 2011

Rochor Centre and Hong Leng Yien Temple

Rochor Centre is a building in Singapore built by the Housing and Development Board. It was built and completed in 1977. There are total of 4 blocks (Block 1, 2, 3 and 4) with over 180 shops, ranging from ceremonial goods to hardware, electrical appliances, beauty salons and eating outlets.

A carpark for residents and visitors is located at the basement. The first three floors consists of shop houses and offices. The fourth floor is a void deck and residents stay from the fifth floor onwards.
Rochor Centre will soon be demolished, to make way for the new North-South Expressway (NSE) in the southern segment of the project.

It is among more than 20 private properties which will have part of their plots acquired for the highway and several slip roads and ramps leading to and from the highway, reported the Straits Times.
Earlier this year, the government gave the green light for the 15.9 km North-South Expressway (NSE) between Admiralty Road West and Toa Payoh Rise, and announced properties in the northern segment which will be affected by the construction.

Construction of the NSE will begin in 2015. When completed, the 21.5km NSE will connect towns along Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Toa Payoh with the city centre and will link to the Seletar Expressway, Pan-Island Expressway and East Coast Parkway Expressway. Motorists can expect to save up to 30% of their travel time during peak hours when travelling along this route.   While all efforts have been made to minimise land acquisition, two full lots, consisting of four HDB blocks at Rochor Centre and an association building at Keng Lee Road, and 21 part lots will need to be acquired to facilitate the construction of NSE.

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

A personal memory trip down Singapore's commercial lane

Raffles Hotel (Chinese: 莱佛士酒店) is a colonial-style hotel in Singapore, and one of the world's most famous hotels. The hotel was established by the famous Armenian Sarkies Brothers. Opened in 1887, it was named after Singapore's founder Sir Stamford Raffles. Managed by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, it is known for its luxurious accommodation and superb restaurants. The hotel houses a tropical garden courtyard, museum and Victorian-style theatre.

The National Museum of Singapore (Chinese: 新加坡国家博物院) is a national museum in Singapore and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution. After several relocations, the Museum was relocated to its permanent site at Stamford Road at the Museum Planning Area in 1887.
The Museum is one of the four national museums in the country, the other three being the two Asian Civilisations Museums at Empress Place Building and Old Tao Nan School, and the Singapore Art Museum. The museum focuses on exhibits related to the history of Singapore. The Museum was named the National Museum of Singapore in 1965. For a brief period between 1993 and March 2006, it was known as the Singapore History Museum, before reverting back to its previous name. The Museum underwent a three-and-a-half-year restoration and reopened on December 2, 2006, with the Singapore History Gallery opening on December 8 of the same year.
The revamped National Museum was officially opened by former President of Singapore S R Nathan and Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang on 7 December 2006.

ION Orchard (Chinese: 乌节弯), formerly known as the Orchard Turn Development or Orchard Turn Site, is a shopping mall by Orchard Turn Developments Pte Ltd , a joint venture between CapitaLand and Sun Hung Kai Properties, and started operating on 21 July 2009. The Orchard Residences, a high-rise residential condominium, will also be built together with the shopping mall under the same developer, manager and owner, and is expected to be completed by late 2009. Orchard Turn Developments Pte Ltd only have a 99-year leasehold with effect from 13 March 2006.

Located along the prime shopping district of Singapore, Orchard Road, The Orchard Residences will be the tallest building along the shopping district, standing at 218 metres. This residential building will have a total of 175 residential units from the ninth floor to the 54th floor once completed, four of which are penthouses. During the first phase of the sale of 98 units, the units were sold for an average of S$3213 per sq ft. Orchard Road's newest shopping mall, ION Orchard, has 335 food and retail outlets.

The St. Regis Singapore opened its doors in December 2007, and has since brought unprecedented levels of luxury accommodation to the shores of Singapore. A hallmark of the St. Regis brand is bespoke service, with ever-present yet unobtrusive butlers catering to every guest’s unique tastes and preferences. The St. Regis is the only hotel in Singapore to offer butler service to all guests.

Saturday, 12 November 2011

Sketchwalk at Telok Ayer, Singapore

The Club Hotel at Ann Siang Hill, Telok Ayer

Wing Chun Huei Kuan (永春会馆) at Boon Tat Street, Telok Ayer

Nagore Durgha Shrine at Telok Ayer Street, Telok Ayer.

Friday, 11 November 2011

Skool Sketch

A quick 30-minute sketch of the eco-garden at the workplace. An attempt to pass the sketching bug to colleagues.

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Bussorah Lane, Arab Street, Singapore


The iconic Jamal Kazura Aromatics perfume house at Bussorah Lane

Wanted to sketch the Sultan Mosque with its golden dome at sunset. Alas, the lane leading to it is under renovation. Instead, did the equally iconic Jamal Kazura Aromatics perfume store while having iced coffee at the famous Kampong Glam Cafe.