Amber Mansions was a shopping centre and residential building located at the curve between

Orchard Road Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major –long road in the Central Area of Singapore. Known as a famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area of Singapore, with numerous internationally renowned depa ...

and

Penang Road Penang Road is a major thoroughfare in the city of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. It runs between Farquhar Street to the north and KOMTAR to the south. The road is a one-way road, with the traffic directed southwards towards KOMTAR. Penang Roa ...

in what is currently known as

Dhoby Ghaut Dhoby Ghaut () is a place in Singapore that often refers to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, a major interchange station on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit network connecting the North-South Line, North East Line, and the Circle Line. As a place, D ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Constructed in the 1920s, the shopping centre was one of the first shopping centres in Singapore.

History

The shopping centre was designed by

Regent Alfred John Bidwell Regent Alfred John Bidwell, or R. A. J. Bidwell, was an English-born architect noted for his colonial era buildings in Singapore. His best-known works include the Raffles Hotel and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall in Singapore, and Sultan A ...

of the architectural firm

Swan & Maclaren Swan & Maclaren Architects is a Singaporean architectural and industrial design firm. One of the oldest architectural firms in the country, it was formerly known as Swan & Maclaren and Swan & Lermit, and was one of the most prominent architectur ...

and was constructed somewhere between 1921 and 1928, being owned by prominent businessman Joseph Aaron Elias. Originally designed to be a fully-residential building, the centre cost over $400,000 to build, with the contracting work being undertaken by Soh Mah Eng, a frequent collaborator of Swan & Maclaren. The centre was three-storeys stall, and was, according to local architect Lee Kip Lin, "one of the best-designed post-World War 1 buildings in Singapore". The centre was popular with socialites and housed several boutiques, as well as the company

City Developments Limited City Developments Limited (CDL), sometimes also known as CityDev, is a Singaporean multinational real estate operating organisation. Founded in 1963, CDL first developed projects in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, as well as in Singapore. Due to geo-po ...

. However, the apartments of the centre experienced frequent burglaries in the 1940s. In December 1978, the building had been gazetted for acquisition, and was taken over by the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. Mission The authority was established on 1 Apri ...

, along with the showroom of

Cycle & Carriage Cycle and Carriage was a company, founded in 1899, and based in Singapore and Malaysia. Cycle and Carriage was one of the premier automotive groups in Singapore and was engaged in the retail, distribution and provision of after-sales service of M ...

and the

Sri Sivan Temple Sri Sivan Temple ( ta, ஸ்ரீ சிவன் கோவில்) is a Hindu temple in Singapore for the god Shiva. The temple was originally located in Potong Pasir from where it was moved three more times before finally coming to the pres ...

. The buildings were demolished in 1984 to make way for the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station.

References

{{Reflist Demolished buildings and structures in Singapore Defunct shopping malls Buildings and structures demolished in 1984 Buildings and structures in Singapore 1984 disestablishments in Singapore