The Arts House (formerly the Old Parliament House) is a multi-disciplinary
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
s venue in Singapore. The venue plays host to
art exhibition
An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhi ...
s and
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...
s. Built in 1827, the Old Parliament House is the oldest government building and perhaps the oldest surviving building in Singapore.
The building was home to the
Parliament of Singapore from 1965 to 1999, when it moved to an
adjacent new building.
History
The building occupies one of the most
historic site
A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...
s of Singapore. During the refurbishment of the building in 1989,
archaeological evidence of older habitation in the area was uncovered with
stoneware
Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. Whether vi ...
and
earthenware dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries found.
The building's river frontage was also where
Sir Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...
was presumed to have landed on 29 January 1819. The area was occupied by
Temenggong Abdul Rahman
Dato Temenggong Daeng Abdul Rahman bin Tun Daeng Abdul Hamid (1755 – 8 December 1825) was the Temenggong of Johor during the Bendahara dynasty. He was best known of being instrumental in the Treaty of Singapore with the British East India Com ...
and his family and followers. Raffles would later persuade the Temenggong to move to
Telok Blangah
Telok Blangah (, ta, தெலுக் பிளாங்கா) is a subzone region and housing estate located in the area behind Keppel Harbour in Bukit Merah, Singapore. ''Teluk Blanga'' is the district between Pasir Panjang and Tanjong Pag ...
in 1823 as he
planned for the land to be used for public and administrative purposes.
Design and construction
![Public Offices, Singapore by John Turnbull Thomson 1846](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Public_Offices%2C_Singapore_by_John_Turnbull_Thomson_1846.jpg)
The building was designed as a
Neo-Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective ...
mansion by
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
George Drumgoole Coleman
George Drumgoole Coleman (179527 March 1844), also known as George Drumgold Coleman, was an Irish civil architect who played an instrumental role in the design and construction of much of the civil infrastructure in early Singapore, after it w ...
for a
Scottish merchant, John Argyle Maxwell, who was based in
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
.
It was intended to be his private residence, however, Maxwell never occupied the house due in part to a dispute over the ownership of the land on which the house was built. Raffles had originally allocated the land for government use in his
Town Plan
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, however, Raffles' successor
John Crawfurd
John Crawfurd (13 August 1783 – 11 May 1868) was a Scottish physician, colonial administrator, diplomat, and author who served as the second and last Resident of Singapore.
Early life
He was born on Islay, in Argyll, Scotland, the son of ...
issued a permit allowing Maxwell to build a house on the site.
The construction of the Old Parliament House began in 1826 and it was completed in 1827. Maxwell applied for a statutory grant to the site in 1827, and the Resident Councillor of Singapore, John Prince objected as the land was intended for government use.
A compromise was then struck whereby Maxwell was granted a 999-year lease in June 1827, but the house would be leased back to the government for a 500
rupees monthly rent.
Later Maxwell's residence went up for
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
which the colonial government won with a bid of $15,600 Spanish dollars, and the ownership of the courthouse finally transferred to Governor
George Bonham
Sir Samuel George Bonham, 1st Baronet (Chinese Translated Name 般咸, 文咸 or 文翰) (7 September 1803 – 8 October 1863) was a British colonial governor, who became the 4th Governor of the Straits Settlements and the 3rd Governor of Hong ...
and the East India Company on 10 October 1842.
Extension and uses
The building was initially used as a
court house
A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English- ...
, and other government offices including the Land Office also moved into the building. The first court session was held in the central room on the first floor at the front of the building.
In 1839, a new single-storey annex was built on an adjacent plot of land, forming what is now the Former Attorney-General's Chambers building later incorporated into the
Parliament House. The Courts then moved into this new building (later on to
Empress Place Building
The Empress Place Building is a historic building in Singapore, located on the north bank of the Singapore River in the Downtown Core, within the Central Area in Singapore's central business district. The building is currently the second wing ...
), and the vacated space was then used for government offices. The government offices were sited at the building until 1875 when the Supreme Court moved back in after the building was renovated.
The building went through several major extension works. The first was carried out between 1873 and 1875 by
John Frederick Adolphus McNair. In 1901, the building was extended towards the
Singapore River
The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, althou ...
. Coleman's original design was lost as a result of the extension works. In 1909, two
courtrooms were reconstructed and a residence for the
Attorney General was built, and the architectural style of the building was transformed from Coleman's Neo-Palladian design to appear more
Victorian.
In 1939, the
Supreme Court moved into its
new building further down the road, and the building was then used as a
storehouse, and later for the Department of Social Welfare after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
![Old Parliament House 5, Singapore, Jan 06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Old_Parliament_House_5%2C_Singapore%2C_Jan_06.JPG)
The building was refurbished again in 1953 to make way for the new
Legislative Assembly of Singapore
The Legislative Assembly of the State of Singapore was the legislature of the Government of Singapore from 1955 to 1965 and is the predecessor of the Parliament of Singapore. The Rendel Constitution, proposed in 1953, sought to give the local ...
, and works were completed in July 1954. The design was carried out by T. H. H. Hancock who was the Senior Architect of the
Public Works Department of Singapore
CPG Corporation is an infrastructure, building management, and consultancy services company in the Asia Pacific.
CPG Corporation is a part of the former Public Works Department of Singapore; the company provides architecture and engineering con ...
.
The Legislative Assembly was opened by the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Sir
John Fearns Nicoll
Sir John Fearns Nicoll (26 April 1899 – 12 January 1981) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Singapore from 1952 to 1955.
Early years and colonial service
Nicoll was born in 1899 and attended Carlisle Grammar Sch ...
.
The Arts House served as one of the two venues held for the opening of the
14th Parliament of Singapore
The 14th Parliament of Singapore is the current Parliament of Singapore. It opened on 24 August 2020. The membership was set by the 2020 Singaporean general election, 2020 Singapore General Election on 10 July 2020.
The 14th Parliament is contr ...
on 24 August 2020, the other being
Parliament House; the multiple venues were used for the first time in Singapore's history as a precaution measure for
social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dis ...
as a result of the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As Parliament House
When the
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
David Marshall was elected in 1955, he was given an office in the building. The building was renamed Parliament House in August 1965 when Singapore gained independence.
A bronze statue of an elephant is located at the front of the Old Parliament House which was a gift from King
Chulalongkorn or
King Rama V
Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร ...
of
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
(now known as Thailand) as a token of appreciation after his stay on 16 March 1871. The country is the first foreign nation visited by a
Siamese King. It was originally located at the
Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall
The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a performing arts centre in the Central Area of Singapore, situated along Empress Place. It is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor; the oldest part of the ...
but was replaced in 1919 with a statue for
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...
.
The arches at the
porch
A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...
of the building and Palladian windows of the front façade were part of the original design, although the building currently appeared more Neoclassical in style.
The building was gazetted a
national monument on 14 February 1992.
On 6 September 1999, the Parliament of Singapore moved into an adjacent new building which faces
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 at ...
.
The Arts House at The Old Parliament
The Arts House at The Old Parliament opened on 26 March 2004 as an arts and heritage centre.
The old building was restored, and the furnishings and the design were preserved. The Chambers were converted into a function room where music performances could be held.
Art exhibition
An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhi ...
s and other functions are also regularly held at the gallery, which has
Tuscan style-
columns and
cornices.
See also
*
Parliament House
*
List of concert halls
References
*Tan, Sumiko (2000) ''The Singapore Parliament: The House We Built'' Times Media,
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, bor ...
*Norman Edwards, Peter Keys (1996), ''Singapore – A Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, Times Books International'',
External links
The Arts House
{{Authority control
Government buildings completed in 1827
Arts centres in Singapore
Downtown Core (Singapore)
Landmarks in Singapore
Legislative buildings
Parliament of Singapore
National monuments of Singapore
Tourist attractions in Singapore
Former seats of national legislatures
1827 establishments in Singapore