The Parliament House is a public building and a cultural landmark in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. It houses the

Parliament of Singapore The Parliament of Singapore is the unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore, which governs the country alongside the President of Singapore. Largely based upon the Westminster system, the Parliament is made ...

, and is located in the Civic District of the

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

within the Central Area. Within its vicinity is Raffles Place, which lies across from the Parliament House from the Singapore River, and the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

's building across the road. The building was designed to represent a contemporary architectural expression of stateliness and

authority Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group of other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government,''The New Fontana Dictionary of M ...

. The prism-shaped top, designed by President

Ong Teng Cheong Ong Teng Cheong (22 January 1936 – 8 February 2002) was a Singaporean statesman, architect and union leader who served as the fifth president of Singapore between 1993 and 1999. Born when Singapore was a part of the Singapore in the Straits ...

, was similarly a modernist take on the traditional dome.

Planning and construction

The space constraints faced by the Old Parliament House were felt since the early 1980s, when the members of parliament grew from 51 in 1963 to 75 in 1983, a point made by then Leader of the House, Edmund William Barker during a parliamentary debate on 16 March 1983. The old building had been renovated several times to accommodate the demand for space, but there was a limit as to how much the building could be widened without disrupting the Chamber's configuration and causing discomfort to its members. The debate concluded in 1989, when the First Deputy Prime Minister

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011. He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...

proposed the idea to build a new parliament house. The project started in earnest in May 1989, when a project team was formed to design and build the new house. Headed by Liu Thai Ker, CEO and Chief Planner of the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National De ...

(URA), it comprised architects and engineers from the URA and the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

(PWD). Various designs were put forth by PWD architects for the new site next to the existing parliament house, led by PWD Director Chua Hua Meng and Deputy Director Lee Kut Cheung. In 1992, the project was approved by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

with a budget of S$148.2 million. The following year, the Committee on the Parliament Complex Development Project was established, headed by the Speaker of Parliament Tan Soo Khoon, and with

Wong Kan Seng Wong Kan Seng ( zh, s=黄根成, j=Wong4 Gan1 Sing4, p=Huáng Gēnchéng; born 8 September 1946) is a Singaporean former politician who served as 5th Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 2005 and 2011 and currently is the chairman of Unit ...

Lee Boon Yang Lee Boon Yang ( zh, s=李文献, p=Lǐ Wénxiàn; born 1 October 1947) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts between 2003 and 2009, Minister for Manpower between 1992 and 2003, ...

, and

Lim Hng Kiang Lim Hng Kiang ( zh, s=林勋强, p=Lín Xūnqiáng, poj=Lîm Hng-kiâng, first=poj; born 9 April 1954) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Minister for Trade and Industry between 2004 and 2018, Minister in the Prime Minister's Off ...

as its members. Tasked to liaise with architects in the planning and construction of the building, the committee members also went on two overseas study missions to gather ideas to be incorporated into the building's design. The first trip was made to

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, where visits were made to the newly built Parliament House in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. Here, extensive attention was paid to public education of the parliamentary system in the form of galleries, moot parliaments. A second visit was made to

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, to incorporate contrasting older, traditional ideas into the building's design. With these ideas incorporated, the new building's concept plan was approved by the Cabinet in 1994. Construction began in 1995 on the expunged Hallpike Street under the direction of PWD Director Chua Hua Meng and Deputy Director Tan Chee Wee, and was completed in July 1999 at a cost of S$115.2 million. On 6 September 1999, the

flag of Singapore The flag of Singapore was adopted in 1959, the year Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire. It remained the national flag upon the country's independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. The design is a horizontal bicolour of r ...

was lowered for the last time at the old Parliament House, before the ceremonial "walk over" was conducted from the old building to the new. Led by the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister, the entourage of MPs walked along Parliament Place, a renamed segment of High Street, Singapore, before reaching the new Parliament House where the flag was unfurled and hoisted with the national anthem being played. The entourage then filed into the new Chamber, where the parliamentary debate resumed. On 4 October 1999, the building was officially opened with a simple ceremony held at the building's

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, entryway, reception area or entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cine ...

, where a

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

plaque was unveiled before 100 MPs and invited guests.

Architecture

The new Parliament House was designed by the

, and comprises three new blocks (Chamber Block, Front Block and Public Block) integrated with an existing restored building built in 1864 and which once housed the Attorney-General's Chambers. This

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

was gazetted as a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

on 14 February 1992. The building was built not only as a venue for parliamentary debates, but also a research centre and meeting place for the members of parliament (MPs), as well as a place of interest for students and the general public. Due to its setting in the richly historical area, the building's overall design harks back to its more historical neighbours with its slate grey external colour scheme and liberal use of accentuated columns reflective of the

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

design common in

classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

. The main entrance from

North Bridge Road North Bridge Road () is a one-way road in Singapore, running north of the Singapore River. It starts at the junction with Crawford Street in Kallang, on the western bank of the Rochor River, and continues in a southwest direction before ending ...

is preceded by a grand ceremonial driveway flanked by

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

s, an iconic tree peculiar to the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

region and complemented by fountain pools. The building's grand

is topped by the

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

atrium, seen from the outside as the building's signature prism-shaped pinnacle. With 100 seats and room for 20 more, the new Chamber features contemporary IT features like an electronic voting system, an integrated congress system, IT terminals and so on. Generous space is devoted to the Strangers' Gallery and the Press Gallery, allowing for more members of the public to observe proceedings. In addition, a new sound-proofed Educational Gallery was built on the top floor of the chamber allowing for staff and teachers to verbally explain live parliamentary proceedings to students, as well as a moot parliament, history corner, and multimedia information kiosks to provide a full educational programme, as is the case in the Parliament House in

. Also part of the new building are a 170-seat auditorium, a library, range of meeting and IT rooms and media facilities, a dining room, a 100-seat public

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

and even a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium. Car parking is available below ground, leaving much valuable space above to include lush landscaping and a 2,770 square metre garden.

Gallery

File:Coat of arms sign at Parliament House, Singapore - 20070725-03.jpg File:Coat of arms sign at Parliament House, Singapore - 20070725-02.jpg File:Singapore Parliament-House-02.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore - 20050806.jpg File:Parliament House, Dec 05.JPG File:Parliament House 3, Dec 05.JPG File:Parliament House 2, Dec 05.JPG File:Parliament House Singapore.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore - 20100803-02.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore - 20100803-04.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore - 20100803-03.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore, at night - 20120926.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore - 20100803-01.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore (2080289575).jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore, at night - 20071027.jpg File:Singapore Parliament-House-01.jpg File:National Flag and flag of Parliament at half-staff at Parliament House, Singapore, during Lee Kuan Yew's lying in state - 20150328.jpg File:Parliament House sign, Singapore - 20100803.jpg File:Parliament House, Singapore2.jpg File:ParliamentHouse-Singapore-20090903.jpg

References

* Tan, Sumiko (2000) ''The Singapore Parliament: The House We Built'' Times Media,

External links

* {{official website
Parliament of Singapore: Design of Parliament House
1999 establishments in Singapore Government buildings completed in 1999 Government buildings in Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Legislative buildings Parliament of Singapore Seats of national legislatures 20th-century architecture in Singapore