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Commissioned as part of the Art-in-Transit programme, a showcase that integrates public artwork in the MRT network, ''A Piece of Ice-Clear Heart'' by Lim Mu Hue is displayed at the station. The mural consists of seven pieces of
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Esplanade MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Circle Line (CCL) in
Esplanade station serves the Circle line and is between the Bras Basah and Promenade stations. The official station code is CC3. Esplanade station is within walking distance of City Hall MRT station on the North South and East West lines, linked to the station via CityLink Mall. The station has provisions to allow connections to either ''Seletar Line'' or ''Tengah Line'', currently announced on 5 March 2025.
As the name suggests, the station is located near Esplanade Theatres. In addition to the Esplanade, the three-level station is connected to the various developments surrounding the junction of Bras Basah Road, Raffles Boulevard and Nicoll Highway. Surrounding cultural landmarks include War Memorial Park,
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The station is wheelchair accessible. A tactile system, consisting of tiles with rounded or elongated raised studs, guides visually impaired commuters through the station, with dedicated tactile routes that connect the station entrances to the platforms. Wider fare gates allow easier access for wheelchair users into the station. The station has retail shops part of Esplanade Xchange operated by SMRT retail arm Stellar Lifestyle. The retail space also includes Hive 2.0, a high-tech retail innovation hub, which includes start-ups specialising in automation, robotics and digital retail services.
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 ...
. Situated in 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 ...
, it is at the junction of Bras Basah Road
Bras Basah Road () is a one-way road in Singapore in the planning areas of Museum and Downtown Core. The road starts at the junction of Orchard Road and Handy Road, at the ERP gantry towards the Central Business District, and ends at the junc ...
, Raffles Boulevard and Nicoll Highway
Nicoll Highway ( , , , ) is a major arterial road in Singapore which links the junctions of Guillemard Road, Sims Way and Mountbatten Road in Kallang to the junctions of Esplanade Drive, Raffles Avenue and Stamford Road in the city. En route, ...
. As the name suggests, the station serves the Esplanade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
performing arts centre, alongside various developments such as War Memorial Park, Suntec City Mall
Suntec City is a major mixed-use development located in Marina Centre, a subzone of the Downtown Core in Singapore, which combines a shopping mall, office buildings, and a convention centre. Construction began on 18 January 1992 and was comple ...
and the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre
Suntec City is a major mixed-use development located in Marina Centre, a subzone of the Downtown Core in Singapore, which combines a shopping mall, office buildings, and a Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, convention centre. C ...
. Esplanade station is linked to the nearby City Hall station via CityLink Mall, an underground retail development.
First announced in 1999 as Convention Centre MRT station as part of the Marina MRT line, it was later incorporated into Stage 1 of the CCL. Several roads were diverted during its construction. The station was renamed Esplanade through a public poll in 2005. Along with the other stations on Stages 1 and 2 of the CCL, the station opened on 17 April 2010. Esplanade station features an Art-in-Transit artwork ''A Piece of Ice-Clear Heart'' by Lim Mu Hue.
History
The station was first announced in November 1999 as Convention Centre station as part of the Marina MRT line (MRL). The MRL consisted of six stations fromDhoby Ghaut
Dhoby Ghaut ( ) is a place in Singapore that often refers to the MRT station of the same name, which is a major interchange station on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit network connecting the North-South Line, North East Line, and the Circle Li ...
to Stadium stations. In 2001, the station became part of Circle Line (CCL) Stage 1 when the MRL was incorporated into the CCL. On 7 August 2001, the Land Transport Authority
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Transport (Singapore), Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore.
History Incorporation
The Land Transport Au ...
(LTA) awarded Contract 825 for the design and construction of Convention Centre station and associated tunnels to a joint venture among Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Woh Hup Pte Ltd and NCC International AB. The contract included the construction of the Dhoby Ghaut
Dhoby Ghaut ( ) is a place in Singapore that often refers to the MRT station of the same name, which is a major interchange station on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit network connecting the North-South Line, North East Line, and the Circle Li ...
, Bras Basah and Promenade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...
stations.
During the station's construction, the arterial routes of Bras Basah Road and Nicoll Highway had to be diverted through more than 10 phases. Road diversions began on 4 August 2002 with the realignment of a stretch of Bras Basah Road and the shifting of Nicoll Highway into War Memorial Park. A pedestrian underpass linking One Raffles Link and Suntec City was closed on 20 January 2003. A sheltered linkway at One Raffles Link and a temporary pedestrian bridge were constructed to facilitate movement between City Hall and Suntec City.
Through a public poll conducted from 26 March to 9 May 2004 to replace its working name "Convention Centre", "Esplanade" garnered more votes at 49% against "War Memorial" at 41%. This was the first time the LTA consulted the public regarding the station names. The name was finalised on 7 July 2005.
To minimise the impact of noise and dust pollution on the surrounding developments, the station was constructed using the top-down method. Diaphragm walls were built to minimise ground movement. With the roof constructed first, construction could proceed under all weather conditions while allowing the early reinstatement of Bras Basah Road and War Memorial Park. At the end of 2007, the diverted roads' original alignments were reinstated.
On 30 April 2008, the underpass reopened to the public. The reopening was marked with a celebration as Suntec City Mall offered goodies and organised music and line dancing performances. The station opened on 17 April 2010 along with the stations on CCL Stages 1 and 2. Prior to its opening, passengers were offered a preview of the station during the CCL Discovery open house on 4 April 2010.
Station details
Esplanade station serves the Circle line and is between the Bras Basah and Promenade stations. The official station code is CC3. Esplanade station is within walking distance of City Hall MRT station on the North South and East West lines, linked to the station via CityLink Mall. The station has provisions to allow connections to either ''Seletar Line'' or ''Tengah Line'', currently announced on 5 March 2025.
As the name suggests, the station is located near Esplanade Theatres. In addition to the Esplanade, the three-level station is connected to the various developments surrounding the junction of Bras Basah Road, Raffles Boulevard and Nicoll Highway. Surrounding cultural landmarks include War Memorial Park, Raffles Hotel
Raffles Singapore is a historic luxury hotel at 1 Beach Road, in Singapore. It was established by Armenian hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers, in 1887. The hotel was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of mod ...
and the Padang
Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...
, while the station serves retail and commercial buildings such as Marina Square
Marina Square is a shopping mall in Singapore which opened in the late 1980s. It is part of the first building complex built on the reclaimed land at Marina Centre, and was the largest shopping mall in the country at the time. The complex also hou ...
, Raffles City Singapore
Raffles City is a large complex located in the Civic District within the Downtown Core of the city-state of Singapore. Occupying an entire city block bounded by Stamford Road, Beach Road, Bras Basah Road and North Bridge Road, it houses two ho ...
, Suntec Convention Centre
Suntec City is a major mixed-use development located in Marina Centre, a subzone of the Downtown Core in Singapore, which combines a shopping mall, office buildings, and a convention centre. Construction began on 18 January 1992 and was comple ...
, Suntec City Mall and South Beach Tower.SMRT Corporation
SMRT Corporation is a multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore operating bus and rail services. A subsidiary of the Government of Singapore's Temasek Holdings, it was established on 6 August 1987 and listed on the Singapore Exchange ...Public artwork
Commissioned as part of the Art-in-Transit programme, a showcase that integrates public artwork in the MRT network, ''A Piece of Ice-Clear Heart'' by Lim Mu Hue is displayed at the station. The mural consists of seven pieces of woodblock prints
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page or image is creat ...
featuring scenes of shadow puppetry and other performances that were popular during the early days of Singapore. Depicting the origins of theatre, the work is inspired by, and pays homage to, the nearby Esplanade Theatres. This was Lim's last and largest commission before his death in 2008.The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...Singapore Press Holdings
Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) was one of Singapore's two state media companies, which published ''The Straits Times'', numerous other newspapers and operated radio, television and digital media.
In 2021, the media division was spun ...
2014">
The artwork is a collage of Lim's early works, including ''Backstage Heroes'', ''Puppet Masters'' and ''Teochew Opera Singing''. Finding his works on theatre to be relevant for the station, curator Karen Lim and the Art Review Panel commissioned him for this station, unaware that he had been diagnosed with cancer. Karen Lim at the time hoped to bring more awareness to woodblock printing, as it was getting rarer in Singapore with fewer artists utilising it.
To reflect the multicultural influences on Singapore's performing arts, Lim produced another work, ''Wayang Kulit'', alongside ''Puppet Masters at Work''. The latter work was created to illustrate the link between theatre and wood art. Initially, Lim came up with only a few prints and sketches depicting the process of creating a woodblock print. Upon Karen's suggestion to produce more of his actual prints, Lim went on to experiment with fusing his works technologically, revisiting and editing his old works to create a cohesive mural.
Due to limited time and his ailing health, his two latest works were digitally edited from the original carvings. Meanwhile, Lim travelled to China (accompanied by his two daughters) to observe puppet masters in action to accurately depict them in his work. Lim went on to finish his work, going through numerous revisions and refining certain details before dying. His children continued to work with the LTA and the production team to put up the work. Resizing to a higher resolution from the original smaller prints, the work had to be digitally altered for it to fit on the slanted wall so that it did not look distorted when viewed from the ground.
References
Bibliography
* *External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esplanade MRT station Railway stations in Singapore opened in 2010 Downtown Core (Singapore) Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) stations