The Vanguard Building, formerly known as the Malaysia Publishing House Building, or simply the MPH Building, is a historic building on the corner of Armenian Street and

Stamford Road Stamford Road (Chinese: 史丹福路; ms, Jalan Stamford) is a one-way road in Singapore within the planning areas of Downtown Core and Museum. The road continues after the traffic light junction of Nicoll Highway, Esplanade Drive and Raffles ...

. It initially housed the

Methodist Publishing House The Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) is a large Wesleyan Methodist denomination, with local churches across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini, and a more limited presence in Mozambique. It is a member church of the ...

. Since 2014, it has been leased to the

Singapore Management University The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university is the only city campus in Singapore. It ranks third in Asia as a specialist university, behind Hong Kong University of Science and Techn ...

Description

The building is one of the few remaining examples of Edwardian architecture in Singapore. It features pedimented and arched windows and rusticated

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

. It also features Baroque arches, which are supported by a first-storey arcade.

History

The building was built in 1908, housing the

. It was designed by 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 ...

. Following

WWII 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 opposin ...

Frank Cooper Sands Frank Cooper Sands was a Scoutmaster from Nottingham, England. He is recognized as a founder of Scouting in Singapore on 2 July 1910, when Sands established two Boy Scout troops for the children of the British colonists. From there, the movement ...

, then Managing Director of MPH, restored and reopened the bookstore. In 1988, it was announced that the interior of the building would be redeveloped for $10 million. The building reopened in November 1991, with a new cafe and the third floor being dedicated to music. The Singapore branch of the

United States Information Service The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill C ...

was relocated to the top floor of the newly redeveloped building. Vanguard Interiors bought the property for $25 million and leased it back to the MPH until 2003. In 2003, the building was gazetted for conservation 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 ...

. It was then leased to AIT Unicampus. In October 2006, Vanguard Interiors moved its offices and its showroom into the building. The

signed a five-year lease for the building in 2014 and renamed it SMU Labs.

References

{{coord, 1.2947, 103.8498, type:landmark_region:SG, display=title Buildings and structures in Singapore 1908 establishments in Singapore