Old School Charm

As places where we spent a large part of our childhood and growing up years, schools hold fond memories for many of us. Some of us might have even met our life partners there! Join Skyline on a walk down memory lane to visit some of the schools which have been conserved today.

by Carol Lim

Old School Charm

When was the last time you visited your alma mater? Does your alma mater still exist today?

In Singapore, where land is scarce and consequently conservation has to be carried out in balance with development, it is not possible to keep all old buildings without freezing development.

Yet, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) recognises that schools are significant social landmarks. That is why several old schools can be found among the 6,500 buildings which are conserved today. Kept wholly or in part, they serve as physical reminders for many generations of old students who have passed through their classrooms and hallways.

Some of them continue serving their function in educating the young, such as St Patrick’s School at East Coast Road. For others, they have gained a new lease of life as they are adapted to house civic and cultural institutions or entertainment facilities.

Long live Victoria School

One of the latest school buildings to be approved for conservation in January 2007, the former Victoria School (VS) is a prominent urban and community landmark at Tyrwhitt Road, off historic Jalan Besar.

VS has had a long and illustrious history. It had its humble origin as an English class in the Kampong Glam Malay School in 1876 and moved to the site at Tyrwhitt Road when the building was completed in 1933. The school was located here for over 50 years before it relocated to Geylang Bahru and later to its new premises at Siglap Link.

Over the years, this pioneer school has made significant contributions to the growth and development of our country by producing numerous scholars, professionals and leaders.

The old premises boasts unique buildings with interesting architecture and history. Being kept for posterity are the Main Classroom/Administrative Block and the Hall-cum-Canteen Block.

The original Main Classroom/Administrative Block is a handsome, flat-roofed, Neo-classical style building with a signature long frontage and upper storey corridor that continues around the central spine of the classrooms. A school hall, with concrete-arch structures, terminates the block at one end.

Built in 1933, it was designed by the same architect as that of the Supreme Court and the former Traffic Police Building, Frank Dorrington Ward of Public Works Department (PWD). It is elegantly proportioned and faced with Shanghai plaster.

The Modern style Hall-cum-Canteen Block built in 1967 is one of the early prototypes developed by PWD in the post-war years to produce schools that are aesthetically pleasing and are fast to build. This innovative spatial-planning technique was later repeated in other schools on the island.

Characterised by a functional yet decorative second storey façade, VS’ multi-purpose hall on the second storey is supported above the ground floor canteen area by slender concrete columns.

Both buildings, in their distinct architectural styles, serve as tangible anchors and reminders of the development of our educational system and the evolution of the school building types in the pre- and post-war years.

A rare gem

What marks the former VS from the other schools gazetted for conservation is that it is one of the few early city centre schools still in existence today and features two school buildings from the pre- and post-war period in a single site.

The original main building is a one-of-its-kind educational building and the Hall-cum-Canteen Block is the only known school hall left of this style and configuration. Together they show the evolution of school architecture in Singapore, marking both the important periods in terms of architectural development as well as social and political changes.

New life

Come 2009, the old VS will have a new role to play. It is currently being restored and refurbished to house the People’s Association (PA) in future. The canteen and hall are planned to be used as PA’s rehearsal rooms while the existing school field will be used for PA’s large-scale activities such as parade rehearsals for Chingay and National Day.

Schools Then and Now

Today, while bells may still ring at some of the oldest schools in Singapore, remarkable transformations have been made to others. Some have been given an entire fresh breath of life as chic lifestyle enclaves while others are now precious storehouses of different facets of our history. But the one thing that these old institutions have in common are sweet memories that they evoke in the hearts of those who have, for a good part of their growing-up years, filed daily in and out of their gates.

From: Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Skyline Newsletter, Jul/Aug 2007. http://www.ura.gov.sg/skyline/skyline07/skyline07-04/text/02.html

1 Comment. Leave new

  • This is certainly an important part of Victorian history.
    Wonder what will happen to the builings after PA vacate it this year.

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