Stamford Arts Centre is an arts centre on Waterloo Street in downtown Singapore. The building previously served as the Japanese National School, the former premises of the Gan Eng Seng School, the Stamford Girls' School and the Stamford Primary School.
The building opened as the Japanese National School in 1920. [1] In 1947, the Gan Eng Seng School temporarily moved into the building before moving to Anson Road in 1951. [2]
After the Gan Eng Seng School vacated the building, the Stamford Girls' School was established at the building in 1955. The school was established in 1951 as a single session school and initially had six teachers and three classes, serving children around Middle Road, Waterloo Street, Queen Street and Selegie Road. The school was named by Miss M. Hadley, then the principal of Raffles Girls' School. However, plans for the Stamford Girls' School to be the sister school of the Raffles Girls' School did not materialise. After moving into the former premises of the Gan Eng Seng School, the girls's school became a two session school. The school merged with the Waterloo Primary School in 1984 to form the Stamford Primary School. [2] The primary school moved to Victoria Street in January 1986. [3]
In 1988, the building was restored and renovated under the National Arts Council Arts Housing Scheme. [4] The first nine arts organisations to be housed in the centre were the Practice Performing Arts School, the Chuen-Lei Literature and Arts Association, the Singapore Broadway Playhouse, the Lee Howe Choral Society, the Hsinghai Art Association, the Tamils Representative Council, the Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society and the Singapore Kairalee Kala Nilayam. [5] However, in November 1994, it was announced that the Chuen-Lei Literature and Arts Association's tenancy at the centre would not been renewed as it was "found to be not sufficiently active and the standard of their activities also did not come to our expectations. [6]
In 2017, the building underwent a $7 million refurbishment. [7] The newly-renovated centre was to focus on 'traditional arts' and would include a new multi-purpose hall, a shared studio, an artist-in-rsidencey space, as well as shops and a food-and-beverage outlet on the first floor. [8] As a result of the renovations, many of the previous tenants of the centre left the building permanently, including the Bhaskar's Arts Academy, and the Practice Performing Arts School, which had since become The Theatre Practice, the latter of which moved into the Young Musicians' Society Arts Centre at 54-58 Waterloo Street. [9] The newly-refurbished and restored building was reopened in October 2018 and featured an augmented reality walking trail and a Chinese opera stage tour which utilised virtual reality. [1] [10]
Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both boys and girls in Year 5 and Year 6. Since 2007, RI and its affiliated school Raffles Girls' School have been offering the six-year Raffles Programme, which allows students to skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE O-Level examinations and proceed to take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level examinations at the end of Year 6.
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, although the western part of the watershed is classified under the River Valley planning area.
Raffles Place is the centre of the Financial District of Singapore and is located south of the mouth of the Singapore River. It was first planned and developed in the 1820s as Commercial Square to serve as the hub of the commercial zone of Singapore in Raffles Town Plan. It was renamed Raffles Place in 1858 and is now the site of a number of major banks. It is located in the Downtown Core within the Central Area, and features some of the tallest buildings and landmarks of the country.
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 hotels and an office tower over a podium which contains a shopping complex and a convention centre. The mall is managed by CapitaCommercial Trust and CapitaMall Trust. It was completed in 1986.
The National Library, Singapore is the flagship national library of Singapore. A subsidiary of the National Library Board (NLB), it is located on an 11,304–square metre site in Victoria Street within the Downtown Core. It is the country's largest public library.
Outram Secondary School is a co-educational government secondary school in Singapore. Founded in 1906 as Outram Road School, and later Outram School, it is one of the oldest schools in Singapore. It is also the only government school in Singapore to have a swimming pool.
The National Museum of Singapore is a public museum dedicated to Singaporean art, culture and history. Located within the country's Civic District at the Downtown Core area, it is the oldest museum in the country, with its history dating back to when it was first established in 1849, starting out as a section of a library at the Singapore Institution as the Raffles Library and Museum.
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 junction with Nicoll Highway, beyond which it becomes Raffles Boulevard. Several landmarks including Fairmont Singapore, Raffles Hotel, Singapore Art Museum, Cathedral of the Good Shepherd and the Singapore Management University are located along the road. A MRT station with the same name, Bras Basah MRT station, is on the Circle Line.
Gan Eng Seng was a Chinese businessman and philanthropist who was one of the early pioneers of Singapore. He is known for his generosity to many charitable causes in Malaya and Singapore during the British colonial era. Some of his most recognised contributions were the setting up of Gan Eng Seng School, the Thong Chai Medical Institution, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and the Ee Hoe Hean Club.
Gan Eng Seng School (GESS) is a co-educational government secondary school in Bukit Merah, Singapore. Founded in 1885 by philanthropist Gan Eng Seng, the school is the first school established by the overseas Chinese community in Singapore and is one of the oldest schools in the country.
The Gan Eng Seng School's Founding Site, marked by twin commemorative plaques at present, is located at the junction of Telok Ayer Street and Cecil Street in the southern part of Singapore, near the Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church. On 30 August 1997, the site was designated as a national historical site along with five other schools by the National Heritage Board (NHB), being one of the oldest educational establishments in Singapore. The others are Raffles Institution, Raffles Girls' School, St Margaret's Secondary School, Singapore Chinese Girls' School and Anglo-Chinese School.
The Old National Library Building was a historical library building at Stamford Road in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore. Originally completed in 1960, the library building was a national icon for many Singaporeans. Despite a huge groundswell of public dissent, the library was closed on 31 March 2004, and was demolished in July that year to make way for the construction of the Fort Canning Tunnel to ease road traffic to the city. The controversy surrounding the building's demise has been credited for sparking greater awareness of local cultural roots and an unprecedented wave in favour of heritage conservation among Singaporeans.
Swan & Maclaren Group business have expanded beyond Architecture & Urban Design, and presently include Interior Design, Adaptive Reuse, Illumination Engineering, Immersive Experience Design, Sustainability Solutions, and in the near future, Luxury Senior Living development. 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 architectural firms in Singapore when it was a crown colony during the early 20th century. The firm has designed numerous iconic heritage buildings in Singapore as well as Malaysia. Presently headquartered in UE Square Singapore, the firm has continued to design numerous projects in contemporary Singapore. Swan & Maclaren Group has operational presence in several countries around Asia, UK and the Middle East.
Group 90 is an informal arts group in Singapore, committed to the study and interpretation, and promotion of the human nudity as an art form. It was founded the late Brother Joseph McNally, along with founding members S. Namasivayam, Chia Wai Hon and Sim Tong Khern, who subscribe to the European art tradition of using the human body in developing artistic mastery in depicting form, perceptual acuity and fluency in drawing.
Percival Frank Aroozoo was the principal of the Gan Eng Seng School in Singapore from 1938 to 1951.
Singapore Calligraphy Centre, also known as 48 Waterloo Street, is a bungalow on Waterloo Street in downtown Singapore which currently houses the Chinese Calligraphy Society Of Singapore.
54-58 Waterloo Street is a row of three consecutive and adjoining terrace houses on Waterloo Street in downtown Singapore, which currently houses The Theatre Practice.
42 Waterloo Street is a historic bungalow on Waterloo Street in downtown Singapore, which currently houses Centre 42.
60 Waterloo Street is a historic bungalow on Waterloo Street in downtown Singapore. A second four-storey building was constructed behind the bungalow when the Dance Ensemble Singapore moved into the bungalow in 1995.
Singapore Council of Women's Organisations Centre, also known as 96 Waterloo Street, is a historic bungalow on Waterloo Street in downtown Singapore. It currently houses the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations.